Inerasable Secrets
by Daygoner
Summary: Due to unfortunate circumstances, Naru and Mai find themselves living under the same roof for the duration of their latest case. Murderous intent ensues... and it's not just the ghosts. Eventually NaruMai. ON HIATUS and EDITING
1. File 1

DISCLAIMER: I don't earn Ghost Hunt.

**A.N. **_Finally the EDITED version. Sorry, folks, it's been long overdue. _

**o.O.o**

**Ghost Hunt: Inerasable Secrets**

**. File 1 .**

Saturday, 10:30am

"…And then I get the feeling – like – like I'm suffocating or something. Like I can't breathe… it's awful."

I set two cups of fresh tea on the table and take a seat next to my boss. By the way his eyes have shifted slightly at the comment our latest client has just made, I can tell he wants to roll them so very badly. But he seems to be clinging to whatever semblance of professional courtesy he has left, so he keeps his face masterfully blank. Thank God. I don't know whether to be grateful that he's not openly rude to other people, or really offended that he reserves all his insults for me. The thought makes me scoff, earning questioning looks from the two people that are sitting by me.

"Mai, we didn't need a demonstration," Naru says dispassionately, shuffling the papers in his lap.

I glare at him, sticking my tongue out in the process. You know, 'cause I'm real mature like that. My actions have little effect on the dark-haired narcissist, who turns back to our potential client, Koizumi Sayuri, without sparing me a second glance. I suppose this is his version of being 'nice' to me. I glower at him, retract my tongue, then zone back into the interview.

"Koizumi-san, you say you feel like you're suffocating; does the suffocation continue until you lose consciousness so that you have to be revived after blacking out during one of these instances?"

The girl shakes her head, her halo of fair hair swishing about her shoulders as she answers. "I usually manage to get out of the room before I black out. Once the door opens, I can breathe properly again. It's been happening since I was eleven – that's five years ago – but it's gotten worse lately, especially after my baby sister was born. My parents asked me about it, but I just told them it was my asthma playing up… they don't know anything about this."

Koizumi-san falls silent, green eyes suddenly vacant. Naru, however, raises an eyebrow and fires off another question (the interrogative bugger that he is). "You have asthma? How do you know it's not just an ordinary asthma attack?"

Our potential client raises her eyes, staring at us with such intensity that I find it hard to look away.

"Yes?" Naru prompts patiently. He's apparently immune to the whole eyes-conveying-emotions thing… must be the auto-arrogant amour he's packing. I wouldn't know; I'm nice.

"You don't understand… it's not natural, the way the room goes cold and everything goes completely silent – then, I can't breathe anymore, like something is blocking my nose and mouth so I can't even scream for help." Koizumi-san's eyebrows knit together to form an angry scowl as she delivers her final statement. "Whatever this is, I don't think it'll stop until I'm dead."

Phew. I blow out a quiet breath at this. Well, she sure is calm for someone who believes that an evil spirit is out there to kill her. I shudder at the mere thought of it. Naru gives me a sideways glance that I can confidently interpret as _Scaredy cat. _Or _Stop acting weird in front of visitors, Mai. _I roll my eyes; either way, both these charming sentiments are conveying the familiar feel of exasperation from boss to employee. I'm sorry to say that there is rarely any other emotion that Naru expresses towards me. Sigh.

"Well, Koizumi-san, your case has interested me." Naru shifts his papers again and gets up from his seat. "When can we begin our investigation?"

The girl nods her thanks and also rises (I get up too because it feels weird being the only one sitting). "You can come down later today – my parents are going out in the afternoon."

"Ah," says Naru, pausing and rubbing his chin in a thoughtful manner. "I assume you don't want your parents finding out about our investigations?"

"No, if that's alright," Koizumi-san says. "I don't want them to know."

I look at Naru. Well, so much for our base. It would be hard for Koizumi-san to explain to her mom and dad how a roomful of computers suddenly materialized in their spare room, along with seven investigators from Shibuya Psychic Research who want to explore their house for possible spirit infestations. I can see it now: _Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Shibuya Kazuya and I think you're living in a haunted house – please may I exorcise your living room?_

"Mai! Are you listening?"

"Huh?" And that's my first word/sound in this conversation. God, I feel so intelligent. "What?"

Naru sighs. In exasperation. Again. "Take down Koizumi-san's address. We'll start the investigation this afternoon."

"But what about base?" I ask, after collecting all the necessary information and seeing our latest client out of the door. "Where are we gonna put all the equipment?"

Naru shrugs. "I'm thinking about it…" he says.

"You'll come up with something," I say brightly, adding an optimistic smile to counter his ever-permanent scowl.

"Well, I can hardly count on you to come up with a solution, can I?" Naru tells me, bending down to collect his files.

Heck, his 'nice' mode (i.e. 'don't insult Mai, just ignore or glare at her' mode) doesn't last long, does it? My smile turns downward sharply and I open my mouth to retort. He catches sight of my face and says tiredly, "Another tea, Mai," cutting me off before I can even begin.

Startled, I look down at his cup, the one I always pour but never actually see him drink. Swallowing the rude remark I was going to throw at him – which he would have caught and beat me with in return – I pick up the china and carry it over to fill it with more tea. "Hey, I didn't see you drink this."

"That's because you don't look hard enough."

I grind my teeth with mild irritation.

But I swear I can see his eyes smiling in response.

**o.O.o**

Saturday, 4:32pm

There are clouds in the sky which I'm pretty sure weren't there when we first set out. Naru and I stand together on the threshold of our latest case as we wait for Koizumi-san to answer the door. It's going to start raining soon, and I consider telling Naru that his hair looks a little flat over his eyes from the humidity. No point risking sudden death-by-ego, though.

"Is something wrong, Mai?"

I blink. "Er, no."

"…Or do you really find me that interesting?" He's wearing a strange expression, his face titled slightly so that his cold eyes are peering up at me under his long eyelashes.

"Just wondering what mascara you use," I sniff, after a prolonged pause as I struggle to find something to say that won't end up biting me on my ass. It's a gift Naru seems to have, the gift of Comebacks and I Will Win This Argument No Matter What You Throw At Me. Witty remarks always end up smacking me back in the head like curveballs, so – mascara. Yes, well, I never said I was any good at pitching witticisms in the first place.

I watch him carefully for his response and he does the Naru-equivalent of a grin, which is basically a lift of one side of his mouth so that it's not quite a straight line any more. I'm willing to bet that it's the only form of exercise his facial muscles get.

"A much better brand than that blush you're always using," he says, and I feel my face heating. The wind picks up a bit and, oh look at that, the curveball's sailing right at me.

"I'll have you know–"

"Shibuya-san, Taniyama-san. Sorry about the wait; I had to finish feeding my baby sister. Come in, come in." Koizumi-san suddenly appears and ushers us into her house. I scowl at her bad timing, but my expression lifts, however, when I catch sight of the baby in her arms.

"She's so _cute_," I squeal. The baby stares at me with wide eyes that are the same colour as Koizumi-san's – a light blue that glows with an almost violet sheen. A few strands of blond hair frame her face, and she has a chubby thumb stuck inside her mouth. _Adorable_. "What's her name?"

"Michiko," Koizumi-san says affectionately as I coo at her sister. The baby giggles with me, opening her mouth and poking a saliva-doused hand into my face.

"Mai," Naru murmurs, dragging my attention away from Michiko-chan's sticky fingers, "stop scaring the baby. We have work to do."

Koizumi-san grins a little. "My room is upstairs," she tells us.

We all troop up the stairs, Michiko-chan bouncing happily on her sister's hip as we ascend to the next floor. I make faces at her as we go and she laughs with the innocent shrill of childish delight. Naru gives me a look and I ignore him.

"Here," Koizumi-san directs us, opening the second door on our left. The room, like the rest of the house is not too large; a bed takes up most of the available space, there are a couple of wardrobes on the far wall that are built-in. A bookshelf that's stacked with countless books, mangas and textbooks stands by the door, and I see Naru cast his eyes over it briefly; if there's anything he loves – other than his work – it's books. And languages. I always see him reading in other languages. It's a typical Naru way of handling things, I think, just blending both his loves together to save him the trouble of searching for two separate things to do.

"You say it only happens when you're asleep, and only in this room?" Naru is asking Koizumi-san. She nods, rocking her sister as she answers.

"Yes. I can usually tell when it's coming because I always hear this rattling sound just before the suffocation starts. Then the temperature drops and I can't breathe."

I scratch my head. "Poltergeist?" I offer, pressing my fingertips together in thought. "Explains the rattling noise… plus, during our second case you told me that a poltergeist's activities are generally caused by the stress of adolescents. Koizumi-san is sixteen, so she's around the correct age…" I leave the suggestion hanging, quite satisfied that I'd just deduced all of that so quickly. Michiko-chan burbles her agreement.

"It's possible, of course," Naru says, and I gape at him. It's the first time he hasn't shot one of my ideas down or insulted me when I input my opinion. I grin, celebrating my success. _Where'd I put my confetti? _"But Mai's usually wrong, so I can't say anything until we set up our equipment and investigate further."

All of my internal partying ceases and my face goes blank. "Thanks, Naru," I grumble, "Nice to know you have so much confidence in my ESP."

He shrugs. "I have confidence in facts and figures. Not amateurs."

"And yourself," I add, crossing my arms and huffing.

"Of course." Naru wanders about the room, touching things and taking everything in. "We're going to have to take some thermometer readings to be sure that the temperature really is dropping, and it's not actually fear-induced feelings that you're hallucinating about."

"Er…sure."

"However, we have one big problem that involves the rest of our equipment. We usually have a base – a room where we keep all our computers and tools during a case – but we obviously can't set one up here since you don't want your parents to know about this…"

"Hmm." Koizumi-san cocks her head thoughtfully. "Are you sure you can't conduct your investigations from an external location?"

"The results wouldn't be as precise or conclusive."

"I see. Well, you'll just have to–"

"Sayuri-chan!"

Everyone in the room stiffens – with the exception of the baby, who makes funny noises in blissful ignorance – as the sounds of a door being closed reach the silence of the room. Koizumi-san turns to us with a mortified expression.

"My parents! What are they doing back so early?!"

"It's ok," I assure her quickly. "They haven't seen us yet, so they don't know we're here. Me and Naru can slip out before they notice–"

"Sayuri-chan! Do you have visitors? We can see their car and their shoes down here!"

Koizumi-san blanches.

Damn. Well, so much for not noticing.

**o.O.o**

**A.N.**_Don't be afraid to drop a review _

**Daygoner**


	2. File 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ghost Hunt

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ghost Hunt.

**A.N. **_More editing…_

Thanks to: _**Rayne**__ – Hope you enjoy this chapter and thank-you for your encouraging review!_

**o.O.o**

**Ghost Hunt: Inerasable Secrets**

**. File 2 .**

"_They haven't seen us yet, so they don't know we're here. Me and Naru can slip out before they notice–"_

"_Sayuri-chan! Do you have visitors? We can see their car and their shoes down here!"_

_Koizumi-san blanches._

_Damn. Well, so much for not noticing._

"Excuses would be really good right about now," our flustered client tells us hurriedly. She motions for us to follow her downstairs and we traipse after her at a clipped pace. The sound of people fussing about downstairs floats up towards us, and Koizumi gulps.

"Mai?" Naru turns to me expectantly.

I'm puzzled by his enquiring expression. "What?"

"We need an excuse," he prompts, raising a dark eyebrow as I splutter my indignation.

"What? Why me?"

Naru sighs as if it's obvious. "Well, you must have _some_ way of covering up for all the dumb things that you do."

I halt, one foot about to descend the top step. Swivelling on my heel, I turn to eyeball the arrogant ass, taking full advantage of the fact that Monk-san isn't here to hold me back as I proceed to introduce my foot to Naru's face. "Why you–" I growl, lifting my leg to deliver the killer blow.

Naru neatly sidesteps my advance and continues down the stairs. "Mai, I would appreciate it if you maintained a high level of decency around our clients – kindly lower your skirt before you even think of coming downstairs."

I make an odd, choked cry. A vein bursts somewhere near my temple and I swear I can feel the slow spread of ruptured blood as it floods my cheeks, anger dissipating into the hot rush of embarrassment. A few moments of silent humiliated moping pass.

_Naru saw underneath my skirt_.

My hand quickly smoothes down the pleated lines of said garment, though, now that I'm not trying to kick anyone's lights out and my leg is firmly on the ground, I look perfectly – what's the word? – 'decent' again. Shame about my face, though; I still feel like a strawberry with a bad case of sunburn.

I trot carefully down the stairs after allowing myself a few more short seconds to compose my expression. Best not let Naru know he's won – again (!) – if you know that I mean; it's not like his ego needs any more feeding. I reach the ground floor where Koizumi-san and her parents are gathered. Naru ignores me pointedly, so my sharp-as-daggers glare is completely lost on him. Sometimes, I wonder why the heck I bother.

(It's not as if he has to look at me anymore, anyway. He's seen up my skirt – there's not exactly anything left _to_ see.)

I feel a niggling sense of rebellion and something like the beginnings of an internal monologue stirring up. _It's not like you gave him much choice_, Inner Mai chuckles deviously. I groan, already thinking about how much of a big deal I'm making out of this.

"Ah… Taniyama-san, are you feeling ok?"

"Forgive her, she has some nervous tendencies," Naru supplies easily, before I can say something that might preserve what's left of my pride.

_What are you talking about? _Inner Mai interjects as Sayuri-san's mom and dad send me questioning glances, _Your so-called 'pride' has been in hiding since the moment you met Naru-chan._

Well, there's no arguing with that.

"Nervous tendencies… right." Koizumi's mother frowns at my overly big, I'm-not- _that_-crazy grin. "Who are these people, Sayuri – and what is that van parked outside our house? Why does it say 'Shibuya Psychic Research' on it?"

I feel Naru tense beside me and Sayuri-san practically drops Michiko. I wonder why she wants to keep our investigation such a secret… Perhaps her parents are not inclined to believing in the supernatural; it's not like we haven't had those kinds of clients before.

"Uh… Taniyama-san is a friend of Kaori's. We met last week and I invited her round for the day," our client invents quickly, as Michiko, giggling, tangles her little fingers into her sister's hair. I have an urge to squeal at the cuteness of this, but I somehow, I don't think the Koizumi family can see me in a weirder light.

_No random outbursts; serious face, serious face, serious face, serious face, serious –_

Koizumi-san's mother releases her tight scrutiny on my face, rejecting me as a source of mistrust. Instead, she turns her attention to Naru, who stares back indifferently. Oh dear. I feel a lecture coming on. "Sayuri, what did I say about having _boys_ in the house when your father and I aren't in? _Especially_ strangers that you don't know…?"

Michiko takes this as the appropriate moment to stuff a handful of her sister's hair into her mouth. She spits it out after a second of toothless chewing, learning that hair is not very tasty despite the smell of the shampoo used on it. Sayuri-san pats her softly on the back as she splutters. "No, mom, it's ok! See, Taniyama-san is a friend, and the – uh – 'boy' is her… her brother! That means that he's not a stranger – he's a friend, too."

The word 'brother' jars my thoughts from Michiko's adorable face. "Uh, Naru's not my – huh?"

Naru grabs my wrist and squeezes it. Painfully. "Sorry, Mai-_chan_, what was that?" He's glaring at me, the corner of his lips moving inconspicuously as I stare up at his face.

_Play along._

I frown at what he's mouthing at me. _Play along_. Koizumi-san nods behind her parent's backs and I hasten to say something to mellow up the atmosphere. "I mean – yeah, sorry, Naru's my – um – my half brother. I just got confused. But yeah, he's my brother all right!"

By now, Naru's grip on my wrist is blocking off the blood supply to my fingers. I make the instantaneous decision to stamp on his foot; he grunts softly in surprise and lets go of my arm.

"Oh, sorry, _onii-chan_ – did I hurt you?" (Maybe playing this brother-sister role isn't as hard as I thought.)

Naru sends me a biting glare and I grin at him without batting an eyelid. If anyone asks, it's standard sibling behaviour, right? Apparently Koizumi-san's parents think so, because they latch onto another subject now that we've proved ourselves to be friends of their daughter. Ha, if only they knew that we were actually part of –

"Shibuya Psychic Research?" Sayuri-san's dad asks us in a harsh tone. "What is that? Some sort of fake company that cons people into giving out their money for 'psychic research'? Well?" he demands, when no-one answers.

Koizumi-san scratches her head, grimacing when she feels that it's unnaturally slick with her sister's saliva. "Hey, mom, dad... why don't we discuss this over some tea?"

**o.O.o**

Saturday, 5:11pm

It feels nice to not be making tea for once. I sip daintily from my cup, somehow still managing to spill a bit of my drink. It dribbles into my saucer, but Naru still feels the need to roll his eyes at me over the brim of his own steaming cup. There really is no pleasing this guy, is there?

The atmosphere is unsurprisingly tense as Sayuri's mother and father stare at us with guarded expressions. We exchange idle chitchat, and, with the subtle guidance of Sayuri herself, manage to convince them that we've actually been friends with her for a very long time (i.e. for the past half hour). However, we haven't seen each other for _ages_ (for two minutes, to be more accurate – I had to go to the bathroom), because Naru and I had to move away – family business – and change schools. So, we were here as transfer students and decided to drop in and discuss old times. Not the best of excuses, but it has the desired effect.

Naru does most of the talking, reeling off all these long words that I don't understand, wowing our client's parents with the abundance of his knowledge and his maturity, despite his age. No-one brings up the subject of SPR until Naru lets slip (_cough_ declares arrogantly _cough_) one of his numerous qualifications, which include something to do with parapsychology and psychical studies. Cue alarm bells.

Sayuri-san's father puts down his cup. "So, er, Shibuya-san," he begins (Naru can keep his original name; I called him my _half_-brother… genius, no?), "What is this Shibuya Psychic Research all about, eh?"

"I deal with the extraordinary perception and latent sensitivity that humans may possess to non-physical or supernatural forces that surround them," Naru informs him, sounding, as usual, as though someone's pounded a thesaurus into his head.

"I see." Sayuri's father nods.

Naru also puts down his empty cup and interlaces his long fingers in his lap. "Actually, we were wondering if we could conduct an experiment here," he says carefully, fixing Sayuri's parents with a calculated gaze. "My research has brought me to this location in the hope that I may find something that concludes my work on the human perception of paranormal activities."

"Why here?" Sayuri's mother asks, genuinely interested despite her earlier wariness of us.

"Actually, we are here more for you daughter than for your family as a whole," Naru explains. "I heard from Mai that she is an exceptionally bright student and if she participates in our experiments, I believe she could supplement our research to a great extent."

Unfortunately, making up something on the spot can have its repercussions. In this case, how are we going to explain ourselves if Sayuri-san actually turns out to be the worst achiever in her class?! I look at my boss. _At least think of something plausible!_

Sayuri's mother blushes a little. "Sayuri, have you been boasting again?"

"No, mom."

"What did I tell you about flaunting your grades? Don't show off like that, it's rude."

Sayuri gives a small, half-hearted sigh. "Yes, mom."

"Forgive her, she tends to let her A-star status get to her head," Sayuri's mother tells us with a subtly proud smile. If anything, she's boasting more than her daughter. "We try to keep her as down to earth as possible."

I find myself grinning largely at this. "Yeah, it's the same with Naru." Naru shifts his stare onto me. "He can get quite conceited at times, can't you, Naru-kun?"

Sayuri's mother smiles at my teasing. "Oh, I don't know about that; Shibuya-san seems very modest from what I've heard today."

There's a triumphant gleam to Naru's eyes as he hears this. 'Modest'? The man doesn't have enough modesty in him to make a grain of salt. "Please don't say that, you're flattering him." I let out a fluttery laugh, only half joking.

"Oh, no, Shibuya-san's more than flattering us! But, tell me, why would Sayuri-chan's grades be of any use to you? I don't think she's studying anything to do with parapsychology at school," Sayuri's father says. They're warming to us fast, I realise, and it's all thanks to Naru's sweet talk (though how and when he found out that our client is an apparent genius, I have no clue.)

Naru is launching into an explanation of what our exorcisms – er, our _experiments_ entail, throwing in a lot of flattery for that extra touch. Basically, Sayuri's clever and we need an intelligent subject to base some of our research on – of course, Naru could have used me as the subject, but you know… – so here we are.

"What will Sayuri-chan have to do?"

"We will set up some equipment and monitor your daughter in her day to day life at home," Naru explains without skipping a beat. "The investigation does not entail of anything invasive, though Mai and I will have to remain at your household for large periods of time. I assure you, we will not interrupt daily life for your family for the duration of this experiment." But we _will_ be working to save you all from evil spirits that may be trying to murder your daughter. You know, just FYI.

There is a pending pause, where Sayuri-san's mom and dad consider the proposition. Unfortunately for them, Naru happens to have the ability to wind _anyone_ around his little finger – and yes, I am speaking from experience – so their decision was pretty much already made up for them the minute he started talking. And, boy, does he know it.

"What do you say, Sayuri-chan?" Her mother sighs out this question, as if reluctant to ask it.

Sayuri looks as though she wants to faint from all the lies that we've helped to manifest around her. "Yeah," she says breathily, "I'd like to do it."

"Good." Naru nods as though he expected much. And this is 'modest' _how_? "Thank you very much for your co-operation. Mai and I will return tomorrow with–"

"Wait, wait, wait," Sayuri's father stops him. "I thought you said that you'd be sticking around for a lot of the time? I assumed you meant that you'd be taking up temporary residence here for the length of the experiment?"

"Oh, no, that will not be necessary. But thank you very much for your generous offer." Naru stands up and makes to leave. "As I said, Mai and I will be returning–"

Koizumi-san's mother waves a hand dismissively. "Where are you two staying now? I thought you were transfer students?"

"At a hotel," I blab vaguely, grabbing my coat. Naru keeps quiet, which I take to be a rare sign of agreement.

"Well, we can't have two of Sayuri's friends staying at a hotel when we have plenty of space here," our new client's mother declares in a horrifyingly welcoming tone. "Please, make yourselves comfortable; our home is your home."

"No, it's fine, really–" I protest, surprised by her kind invitation. She cuts me off, however.

"No, no, I wouldn't hear of it! Of course, you'll stay with us – and no, Taniyama-san, it is no problem at all!"

You know when your host is so overly inviting that their behaviour is bordering on 'pushy'? Well, this is it, in all its glory. Though now it feels more like she's trying to force us into staying with her and woe betide us if we decline.

"Well, when you put it that way…" Naru looks as though he's chewing glass as he hears me say this. _Crunch crunch crunch. Glare glare glare._ Sayuri-san's mother, on the other hand, is beaming (_twinkle twinkle twinkle_)... and me? _Sweat drop sweat drop sweat drop_. The last time we ended up playing slumber party with the ghosts, it didn't exactly finish with everyone in once piece, did it?

"Hmm…where should you stay, then? Michiko-chan is occupying one of our spare rooms right now, but we still have a room free."

Naru and I share a sideways glance and a cold sensation seeps into my stomach. Uh-oh.

Sayuri's mother smiles widely, oblivious to our expressions.

"Do you guys mind sharing a bedroom?"

**o.O.o**

_Thanks for reading!_

**Daygoner**


	3. File 3: Part 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ghost Hunt

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ghost Hunt.

**A.N.** _EDIT, whoooo…_

_**My thank-you's: **_

_**Nana**__ – Glad you like it! The next chapter involves quite a bit of character development, but hopefully things'll heat up for Naru and Mai soon; hope you enjoy, and thanks for the review._

_**Rayne**__ – And here we have the long-awaited File 3! Again, thank you very much for the review, and I really hope this chapter was worth the wait._

_**Anonymous**__ – Yay, you find it funny! I love writing the relationship between Naru/Mai 'cause you can inject so much light-hearted stuff into it… then there's slightly more serious side (which should become more apparent in this chapter). Anyway, enough of my chattering; thanks for the review, and hope you enjoy Part One of File 3!_

_**Sandshinobi**__ – Yeah, the Naru/Mai relationship is so cute, isn't it? Forgive me for my indulgence of Monk-san's appearance in this chapter; rest assured that some very Naru/Mai orientated 'Files' are coming up soon…Thanks for the review and enjoy!_

**o.O.o**

**Ghost Hunt: Inerasable Secrets**

**. File 3 .**

**- PART ONE - **

_Naru and I share a sideways glance and a cold sensation seeps into my stomach. Uh-oh._

_Sayuri's mother smiles widely, oblivious to our expressions._

"_Do you guys mind sharing a bedroom?"_

**o.O.o**

Saturday, 7:47pm

"Mai, d'you want me to tag along? You might need me to guard you from Naru-chan; who knows what kind of horny bastard he could turn out to be if you guys share a room! Whaddya say?"

I take one look at Monk-san's hopeful expression and burst into a fit of giggles. "Naru… a horny bastard…! I think, like, a refrigerator has more potential to be 'horny' thank Naru!" (This is pretty darn unfortunate, if you ask me.) "But it's ok, Monk-san, I think I'll be alright. Besides, how would I explain your presence to Koizumi-san? It's bad enough with me and Naru as it is."

"Well, I _could_ pass for your brother…"

I groan. "Another brother? Thanks, but Naru's plenty."

"But Mai, it's dangerous – and I'm not just talking about a potentially sex-crazed Naru, either."

Aw. Monk-san can say the sweetest things sometimes, bar the 'sex-crazed' part of that sentence. He's frowning, long strands of his hair flopping into his eyes. He's also pouting – in a sort of resolute way – and I coo at him, reaching forward to pinch his cheeks fondly.

"I don't care what you say; you should always have an exorcist with you in a haunted house. I'm going with you," he declares, standing up. I sigh, feeling suddenly exasperated. Forget brother – he's worse than a dad.

Naru chooses this moment to step through into the waiting lounge of his office. He has been oddly distant since accepting Koizumi-san's offer, though I guess I can't blame him. We had our little argument about who's fault it was that we were in this room-sharing mess on the way back to the SPR headquarters ("Naru, for the last time, I wasn't the one who said you were my brother! It's not my fault!" "…" "…Are you still ignoring me?" "…"). It was probably more one-sided than I'd have liked, but sometimes, Naru's better at impersonating a brick wall than a refrigerator. That said, just insert a whole load of glares and half-hearted grunts into our pseudo-argument, and there you have it: Naru's side of the dispute.

I get up and pour my boss a cup of tea without him having to ask – a sort of peace offering on my part. He accepts the drink without thanking me, nor looking me in the eye. Typical.

"Naru, I'm going to stay with you and Mai – in the house," Monk-san says abruptly, jabbing a thumb to his chest, über-macho style.

"…Really?" Naru sits down in a chair and folds his arms across his chest, just oozing of The Vibe. I get that a lot. The Vibe means… well, it means a lot of things. Most of them negative.

Basically, it's Naru's 'Hell yeah, you are (_sarcasm_)' pose. There are many variations of this stance, including the 'Shift eyes to the floor with a light frown' expression; the 'Open glare and frown' look; the 'Cross legs, interlace fingers and look down at lap' pose… Jeez, I could write a freaking book on this – The Complete Guide to Shibuya Kazuya's Expressions, Postures and Mannerisms; by his obsessed part-time employee turned stalker, Taniyama Mai. It could be the next bestseller… Watch out, Harry Potter, here I come!

Monk-san again, trying – futilely – to engage in some form of convincing argument with Naru.

"But, Naru–!"

"No."

"What if–!"

"No."

"Why can't–!"

"No."

"Hey, are you gonna just keep cutting me o–!"

"Yes."

Monk-san deflates after this little exchange and he flops back down into his chair looking mournful. I pat him on the arm affectionately, pour a fresh cup of tea and pass it to him with an 'Aw, don't worry' look. I can't really understand how men get so overly protective about their 'I'm better than thou' status; I put it down to the fact that I lack that all-important Y chromosome. And other parts.

"Mai, you should go home and prepare for tomorrow," Naru tells me finally, ignoring Monk-san's begrudging scowl.

"Oh, ok." I stretch out my arms and squeeze out a quiet yawn, feeling silently pleased that – at last – he's acknowledging my presence. "Is there anything you need before I go?"

"No."

"Ok," I say again and walk over to the coat stand.

"Have you thought of something to say to your parents?" Naru asks me as I put a hand on the door handle. I halt, surprised that he cared enough to enquire.

"Yeah, the usual – you know, staying over at a friend's place and all that. School's out for the next few weeks and they don't pry too much into what I do with my free time, so it's fine."

"…Good."

I nod, smile and wave at Monk-san and walk out of SPR's main building. _He said 'good' to us!_ Inner Mai raves, shaking her little fists in the air, even though, just minutes ago, she was tacking up banners that screamed '_Join our Campaign Against Testosterone_!' in my head. I grin and wrap my jacket tighter around myself.

Whoever thought such a simple comment could make a girl smile so.

_God, I can't wait for tomorrow._

**o.O.o**

Saturday, 7:54pm

The door swings shut after Mai and Monk-san stares at it for a heavy moment before turning to face Naru again.

"I don't think you and Mai should work on this case alone. It's dangerous."

The seventeen-year-old head of SPR sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose in mild irritation. It's a rare sign of frustration that he never would have shown around anyone but Lin, but Monk-san's protectiveness over Mai was becoming increasingly annoying, now. "I've called Hara-san and John-san down for the initial once-over tomorrow. If an exorcism is needed, I have no objection to you and Matsuzaki-san joining us as well."

"Hm." Monk-san sweeps some of his hair out of his eyes and leans back into his chair. At least, he reasons with himself, he'd have the chance to check out the haunted house before Mai and Naru took up temporary residence there. That way, he could root out anything potentially harmful before they went and hurt themselves by doing stupid, reckless things whilst chasing ghosts at that place.

_Those two_. Monk-san buries his head in his hands, swallowing a groan at the mere thought of them alone together with a couple of crazy ghosts for company. _Always getting into trouble._

After letting a few worrisome thoughts pass, the former monk simply decides to let it go. (_I'll just exorcise everything before they even get the computers rigged up_). He drains his cup and gets up from his seat. "Well, from what I've heard, this case sounds easy. You and Mai probably won't have to stick around for long, anyway." He clicks his back and grimaces, feeling years older than his actual age.

"…Why do you have such a problem with Mai staying somewhere alone with me?" Naru's calm, but subtly tight enquiry has Monk-san raising his eyebrows. He sticks out his bottom lip and tries to come up with an answer that doesn't sound too soppy. _I don't want anything to happen to her_ just didn't kick it with him – it's too… histrionic and un-Monk-san-ish.

In the end he settles for the manly shrug and half-glare. "It's not that I don't trust you to look after her," he says gruffly, "it's just that – I just– I think–"

"That I can't protect her?" Naru's eyes are boring into Monk-san's. These are the exact words that Monk-san was afraid of – too heroic, too over-dramatic. Yet, for Naru, they sound… _ok_. (The former monk has a sneaking suspicion that the wily head of SPR has actually claimed sections of the dictionary, so that only he can use certain words and phrases – _and_ make them sound good. It's the only explanation. Either that, or Monk-san just can't say cool things anymore… and that's definitely not the case. No, definitely not.)

"…Well?" Naru's getting impatient.

"…Maybe." Even as he mutters it, Monk-san feels ashamed to admit it. Wasn't he the one who was desperately trying to convince a sobbing Mai to have faith in Naru during their last case? _You need to take your own advice, Takigawa._

Naru, however, appears unaffected by the uneasy revelation. "If that is what you think…" He leaves the statement incomplete and hanging in the space between them. Monk-san watches him rise from his seat and make his way out of the room.

"Lin will be taking the equipment along tomorrow. He'll be there around eleven."

"Sure. I can help with setting up," Monk-san offers, the one-sided tension making his voice overly-light.

"Thanks." Naru expresses his gratitude in a flat tone.

"No problem."

Naru takes his coat off the rack. Monk-san goes over to the door and opens it, as if waiting for the solemn teen to give him permission to leave. After calling out a goodbye to Lin (who is still tapping away at his computer in the next room), the two men exit the building together, in silence, save the whipping sound of their long coats and their heavy footfalls on the ground.

"Ok, well, I'm going this way. You headed in the other direction?" A nod is the only answer Monk-san gets. "See you tomorrow, then."

Monk-san turns and begins to walk away. He doesn't hear Naru moving, and almost jerks in surprise when he catches the sound of the teenager's deep voice over the noise of the street.

"You're wrong."

It takes Monk-san a moment to understand what Naru means by this. Then, he smiles crookedly, raises his arm in a one-handed salute and walks on, leaving one last statement before he goes.

"I wasn't just talking about the ghosts, _Naru-chan_!" he calls loudly, before disappearing down the street.

The head of SPR stares after the retreating back of former monk for a while before moving again. He tucks his chin into his collar as he walks.

Naru hates it when he can't think properly; it means that he's allowed too much emotion to clutter his mind and it almost definitely affects his perception on things. Though she will never guess it, Mai is a good outlet for all this, so if she's good for anything, it's for keeping his head from exploding, or, indeed, from growing any larger. She keeps him nicely grounded and makes good tea.

It isn't until Naru's packed the last of his things in preparation for the next day that he has a bit of an epiphany. It warms his stomach a little, a bizarrely familiar feeling – the sort that he gets when he embarks on a new and interesting case. He puts down his suitcase and sits on his bed, savouring the silence of his bedroom – one that he doesn't have to share – for a while. Tomorrow, and the nights after that, would be… interesting.

His anticipation carries him, without sleep, into the early hours of the morning. Then it's off to work – off to Lin, to Mai, to tea, to ghosts. Things are running like clockwork, and it takes a moment for Naru to remind himself that with a job like his, that can't be a good sign.

**o.O.o**

Sunday, 11:22am

"Yo, Mai!"

I lift my hand and shade it over my eyes as I look up to greet Monk-san. He's waving at us, Ayako walking primly just behind him. "Monk-san! Ohayo!"

The two exorcists join me at the van. Naru and Lin are setting up the computers and monitoring equipment in the spare room that Koizumi-san has kindly allowed us to occupy. I'm about to bring up the last of the stuff, but Monk-san relieves me of the items in my arms, telling me that he can handle it.

"Thanks," I say, arching my back and sighing. I've had to carry heavy equipment up and down those stairs all day. I dunno whether I'm imagining it, but I think Naru's being more of a slave-driver today than he's ever been since I've started working with him. Using my amazing powers of deduction, I've come to the conclusion that a) he's still pissed off about having to share a room with me; b) he's suffering the male version of PMS; c) I made his tea incorrectly this morning; or d) all of the above. Option 'd' seems most viable, at the moment.

"Hey," Monk-san, arms laden with extra cables and shelving bars, bends to whisper in my ear conspiratorially. "I had a word with your boss last night. He won't be bothering you, don't worry. Just don't wear anything _provocative_ to go to bed and you'll be fine."

A horrified sound clogs up my throat. I think I need to add another option to my 'What pissed off Naru' List: e) Monk-san's interference (though exactly what that is, I have yet to find out).

"What?!" I say. "What did you say to him?"

"I just let him know who he has to answer to if he makes a move on you or something." Monk-san winks, then gasps when he nearly drops what he's holding. Ayako makes a faint tutting sound in the background.

"Since when did you care about Naru making a move on Mai?" she asks, tugging on a few cables experimentally, nearly causing Monk-san to drop the whole pile again ("Watch it, woman! Are you crazy?!"). "Jealous, old man?"

"Jealous? Why would I be jealous?"

Ayako smiles. "They're young. Naru's handsome. Mai's… cute (_in her own way_) –" a few indignant stutterings at this, "– He hates her. She gets annoyed by him. It's the common cliché. They'll fall irrevocably and irreversibly in love on some point or the other and–"

"Hey!" Both Monk-san and I object violently to this.

"No, we will NOT," I say. Yep, just forget the future tense in that statement 'cause it's already happened on my side.

"What's that mushy stuff got to do with ME?" Monk-san asks at the same time, looking revolted at the mentioning of 'young love' in relation to him.

Ayako prods him into following her into the house. "Well, that's what you're jealous of, isn't it. You are an old man, after all…"

"Are you saying I'm jealous of Naru-chan?" Monk-san trips on a dangling cable and he mutters some faint curses as I help him to pick them up.

"Why, yes, it appears I am." Ayako gives him an evil grin, reminiscent of Naru's.

"But, but hey – I'm not in love with Mai! That's just, that's like–" Monk-san stumbles on his words as we begin our trek up the stairs.

"Pedophilic?" Ayako supplies with a shiny smile. Monk-san's jaw drops comically.

"Are you calling me a pedophile?"

"Well, Mai is rather young for you, isn't she?"

"Hey!" I protest again. "Standing right here!"

Monk-san glowers at the Shinto priestess and grumbles profanities under his breath, no doubt buying time to find a good comeback to throw at her. The red-haired woman in question laughs into the silence, flicks her hair and pauses briefly to inspect her painted nails on the landing.

"Dammit, I've chipped a n–"

"What are you arguing about out here? Matsuzaki-san, stop looking at your nails and move out of the way so that Monk-san can get through." Naru, looking just as foul tempered as when I saw him last appears from a doorway and directs Monk-san into the room he's just left. "Lin's been waiting for the rest of the equipment. Mai, I sent you to get it ages ago – what have you lot been doing all this time?"

I glare at my boss. "It's only been a couple of minutes, Naru," I say. "We were just–"

"Arguing?" Naru says, and Matsuzaki-san turns away with an 'I'm-not-a-part-of-this' expression on her face. And guess who's left in the firing range? "You should never argue in front of clients; it's unprofessional."

I grind my teeth in agitation. "Well, our clients aren't here, so it doesn't matter, does it?" Why are we starting another argument over this? This is getting stupider and stupider…

Naru sets his jaw angrily and I fold my arm across my chest, holding my stance. "I don't have time for this. Forget it."

He disappears into the spare room before I can stop him or hurl an insult his way. Coward. Ayako turns back around and peers interestedly into our base, but a bewildered Monk-san comes staggering out just as she does so, nearly taking her nose off in the process. The door shuts with a sharp snap behind him, barring anyone from entering. The three of us look at each other, eyebrows raised.

Finally, Ayako voices what we're all thinking. And she couldn't have said it louder, given Naru's probably just behind the door we're standing in front of.

"Who stuck the rod up his ass this morning?"

"It's his PMS," I gripe, rolling my eyes at Monk-san, who pretends to take me seriously.

"Yeah, and we all know what that stands for," he says, tapping a finger to his temple and looking like he has the answers to everything.

"What, 'Premenstrual Syndrome'?" I ask, confused. Monk-san pats me on the head and grins his widest grin.

"No," he chirps. "'Potential Murder Suspect!'"

**o.O.o**

**A.N. **_To: __**Artermis Bloodshadow**____and____**Ayge**__ (and anyone else who was wondering): Sorry for not posting the LONG chapter you requested. My only excuse is that the description 'long' referred to 7000 words – way too extended for a single 'File'. Sooo, I guess you'll just have to wait for Part 2!_

_BUT__, I've pretty much finished writing it, so, just to tide you over, here are some previews…_

**o.O.o**

_**PREVIEW…**_

_**.File 3.**_

_- __**PART TWO -**_

…

"NOT THAT WAY! MAI!"

I risk a glance back at Naru, who's running desperately after me as I take off down the street. But when I look forward again, the last thing I see is a tall, blond male standing in the middle of the road. He's mouthing something at me but I can't make out what he's trying to say.

Then, I'm falling, falling from a considerable height, plummeting into a dark _dark_ something. My internal monologue tells me that it's impossible; no-one can fall so far on solid ground. Either way, I don't know if I'm screaming, but I can't seem to move or save myself. I hear Naru's receding voice somewhere above me.

"MAI!"

…

…_**END PREVIEW**_

_Thanks for reading :)_

**Daygoner**


	4. File 3: Part 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ghost Hunt

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ghost Hunt.

**A.N. **_Just to let you guys know that I'm living in the UK, and __**the sixth volume of GH **__**just**__** came out**__. I'm going to buy it next weekend, so I'll be up to date with everything soon. So: sorry for the whole Mai-being-an-orphan-thing – I had no idea! Thanks to all the reviewers who were kind enough to point it out to me, and apologies to readers who were a bit confused by my incorrect references._

_**To the anonymous reviewers…:**_

_**Rayne**__ – I love Monk-san too; he'll definitely be included more in the storyline. We'll have to see what happens between Naru/Mai… hope you enjoy 'Part 2'! _

_**Chaos**__ - /Smile/ Glad to know you're liking it! I'm quite touchy on the portrayal of characters so your comment put me in a very good mood. Thanks for the review; happy reading!_

_**Nana**__ – Hi again! Nothing much to say except 'thank you for the review' and… Well, here's 'Part 2' – ENJOY/Grin/_

_**Anonymous**__ – What happens when Naru and Mai share a room…? You'll just have to see! I think Monk-san's just so lovely in general – I just __had__ to play out his protectiveness in that chapter. Anyway, thank you very much for the review and here's 'Part 2'!_

_**Angelfish**__ – Many apologies for the whole the mistake I made with Mai's parents and all – as I've mentioned, I've yet to read the sixth volume and get up to date with everything that's happened. Even so, your review was extremely sweet and encouraging, so thank you very much for your thoughtful comments! Hope you enjoy the rest of this 'File'! _

_**Sunny**__ - /Blush blush/ Jeez, that's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me. Thank you soooo much! Wow, I feel really honoured now… /Blushes some more/. Oh boy. I think we need to move onto the chapter before I spontaneously combust with the praise!_

_**Saphyyre**__ – Hey, I'm really liking the way you spell your name – very pretty. Anyway, just wanted to say 'thanks' for the review and here's the rest of the 'File'. Have fun!_

_**Nameless**__ – Waaah! LOL, was this a quick enough update? I'm trying! Thanks for the review and here's the chapter you were dying for…_

**o.O.o**

**Ghost Hunt: Inerasable Secrets**

**. File 3 .**

**- PART TWO -**

"_It's his PMS," I gripe._

"_Yeah, and we all know what that stands for," Monk-san says, tapping a finger to his temple and looking like he has the answers to everything._

"_What, 'Premenstrual Syndrome'?" I ask, confused._

"_No," he chirps. "'Potential Murder Suspect!'"_

**o.O.o**

Sunday, 10:35pm

It seems, in retrospect, that Monk-san was very correct. Naru went through all the mood-swings typical of your regular teenage hormone machine, most of these composing of the Crap Mood, the Crapper Mood and the Crappiest Mood.

_(Note to self: Keep Naru __away__ from sharp, potentially lethal objects.) _

I squeeze a worm of toothpaste onto my toothbrush and jam it into my mouth, scraping away at my teeth. Masako and John had turned up close to midday, and a full day of work ensued. After a morning's worth of hauling equipment around the Koizumi household, we all trouped around together for a general house inspection ("Oh, no, Koizumi-san, it's just that we're very religious – Matsuzaki-san and Takigawa-san are just here to bless the house for us! Oh, Brown-san? Well, um, I'm Buddhist and Naru's Christian! So, you see…"), which culminated in a few exorcisms – sorry, _blessings_ – of which Monk-san seemed particularly enthusiastic about ("Ok, Naru, Mai, consider this case closed – there won't be any ghosts around for you to hunt after this exorcism!"). Naru had just turned his nose up at this with a dignified, "We'll see."

I splash some water on my face and wipe the condensed mist off the mirror. Masako was next up on the list. She took one step into the house and immediately keeled over, chest wracked with sobs and eyes spilling over with tears. With gradual prompting and _great_ patience, the SPR team managed to wrangle out information from the tearful psychic; the house appeared to be the subject of a young boy's haunting, where most of the activity was based around Sayuri and her room. After falling _accidentally _(on purpose) onto Naru and using his shirt as a free-standing handkerchief, Masako announced that it was not the house that the ghost was tied to, but the people. Then we decided we couldn't make out any more information, what with the crying, the weeping and the 'oh Naru' X100…

I smooth the creases in my frilly PJs, realising a bit too late that – being frilly – they can't actually be smoothed. I suppose it's a habit I've picked up, and I do it when I'm nervous – but why I'm nervous right now is a mystery to me. Everyone's left the house, though Lin-san is staking out the building whilst he camps in the van… oh boy. This means that it's just me and Naru from now on. Naru and Mai, going solo. Or duo. Like, hero and sidekick, only sans spandex.

"Mai?"

"Yep?" I flounce back into the bedroom, a plume of steam following hazily in my gait. "What is it, Naru?"

"You were gone long." Naru appears to have been pacing the room. He stops in front of me and I realise vaguely that it's the first time I've seen him in something other than his customary black shirt and formal pants, and the hospital gown he had to wear once. True to his usual style, he's donning a plain black T-shirt and shorts. Unfortunately, his expression is just about as dark as the shade of his clothes, which is _not_ a good sign.

"I take my time in the shower," I tell him, placing a delicate hand on my hip. "Why should I rush? You've already used the bathroom, haven't you?"

Naru blinks and looks away. I take this to mean that we've already exhausted the issue and I'm free to go. I dodge past him and head for my suitcase. There's a silence between us and the only sounds in the room are of my hands rustling around in my case.

"You can have the bed. I'm taking the floor." Naru's voice comes suddenly and very quietly behind me.

He is already sitting himself on the derogatory little mattress beside the queen-sized bed that takes up most of the space in the room. Naru's not looking at me, choosing instead to direct his attention to fluffing up his pillows as we speak.

"Er, Naru, it's ok if you want the bed, you know," I say, tucking a few strands of my hair behind my ear. "I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

"No." He's propping himself up against the wall. He takes out a book and begins to read.

"Seriously, I don't mind–"

"No. I said it's fine, ok?"

"…Uh, well – ok." I toss the last of my clothes into my suitcase and crawl onto the bed. I settle myself between the cold sheets. It's a big bed, big enough for two… but, for us, that'd be inappropriate, and I know Naru would refuse – or worse, make some snarky remark about the whole set up. Still, he's being polite tonight, I'd be an idiot to take it for granted.

Plus, I can report back to Monk-san that under no circumstances is Naru the sex-fiend that he thinks he is.

"Thanks, Naru."

**o.O.o**

Sunday, 11:51pm

"Naru, aren't you going to sleep? It's nearly twelve." I yawn to accentuate the statement, but Naru doesn't even lift his eyes from his belovèd book. And this was the man that I was calling 'polite' about an hour ago. "Did you hear what I said, Naru? It's nearly twelve and you've still got the lights on! Go to sleep!"

"No-one's stopping _you_ from sleeping," my boss tells me blandly, turning a page in his book.

"I can't sleep with the lights on," I complain, rubbing my eyes in an affected way.

"Too bad."

Sometimes, his kindness and caring just blows me away. I mean, sure, he's 'nice'… if you compare him to a freaking gorilla with rabies! I huff irritably, rolling over to the side of the bed so that I can annoy the hell out of him as he reads. If he won't let me get to sleep, then he's not getting any peaceful reading time as far as I'm concerned.

_Objective 1. Utilise an annoying tone of voice to generate very stupid conversation._

"Soooo…! Whatcha readin'?" _And so it begins_.

Naru lifts an elegant eyebrow, his voice brittle as he answers. "_L'Être et le Néant_ by Jean-Paul Sartre." He turns another page, refusing to be put off by the fact that I'm leaning so far over him that my nose is practically blocking his view of the print that he's trying to read.

Anyway, er… was that Spanish? Cue the flashing question mark!

"It's French," Naru says with a hint of a sigh, answering my unasked question.

"I knew that." I roll my eyes; French, Spanish, Italian – they're all the same. Romance languages, right? Descended from Roman – er, Latin… Anyway… "What's it about?"

Naru's getting irritated. He's actually looking at me, which means I get a brownie point for my efforts. "It means 'Being and Nothingness.' It's a philosophical essay on Phenomenology… you wouldn't understand."

Damn right, I don't. _Point to Naru_. "Well, since you seem to be _so_ interested in it, why don't you explain it to me?"

"…I thought you wanted to go to sleep."

"I thought I told you that I couldn't sleep with the light on."

_Objective 2. Prolong the stupid banter until Naru gets defeated by my __outstanding__ wit._

"…I thought you said you had no idea what phenomenology was."

"I thought I asked you to explain it to me."

"I thought that you were too stupid for me to even try to explain it to."

"I thought – hey, you thought what?! Huh, well, you think too much!"

"And you don't think enough."

"Hmph." _Two points to Naru_. He's put his book down, now; I'll take that as a good sign. Either he wants to continue our little childish rant or he wants to go to sleep. Personally, I hope it's the latter, but the lovesick and easily-excited part of me begs to differ.

Naru is calming himself. The Inner Me cackles a little. Then his face looks up into mine, glaring, of course, and I'm hit by a strange feeling. The fact that the high-and-mighty Shibuya Kazuya is actually looking _up_ to me is very weird indeed. Well, not so overly weird that I have to do a 'Masako' and collapse on him, but it's strange enough that I grin stupidly at him and flop back down on my pillow with a besotted sigh.

_It should be illegal for somebody to be so good-looking and so goddamn arrogant at the same time._

_Objective 3. Don't make eye-contact with your boss and __subdue__ inner desires._

I'm startled when the light suddenly flicks off and the room is plunged into darkness. A muffled sound beside me announces that Naru is climbing under his sheets and is settling down to get some sleep.

"_Finally_," I breathe, stressing the word with all due relief and curling into the fetal position.

"I probably won't be able to read until tomorrow anyway – I can't concentrate with you around." Naru's dry tone has me turning over to peer at him again.

"Good for you," I say snippily. "Goodnight, Naru-chan."

A grunt is the only answer I get. Then, "You don't snore, do you?"

I feel a little indignant at this. "No! Of course not!"

"Good."

"…Do _you_ snore, then?"

"No."

"Good." I echo his sentiments and tug the duvet closer around me. But thinking about what I'm probably going to be dreaming about tonight has me shoving the covers right off again; what if I sleep-talk or something equally embarrassing during one of these desire-induced dreams? And Naru's sleeping _right next to me_…!

Suddenly, sleeping doesn't seem like such a good idea. I shuffle meekly over to the side of the bed once more. "H-hey, Naru, are you still awake?"

"If I ignore you, would you think that I was asleep and shut-up?"

"Yes, then."

"…"

_Come on, Mai; you've gotta keep him awake! Say something!_ Inner Mai prompts me loudly in my head. I wonder if mental slaps actually work on Inner Voices…

"Naru? Um… do you ever dream?"

_Yes, well done; go __straight__ to the subject that you want to avoid! _

- MENTAL SLAP NO. 1 -

"…"

"You're not gonna answer, are you?"

_Keep digging the hole, Mai. You might as well bury yourself in it, now._

- MENTAL SLAP NO. 2 -

"…No."

"Uh, 'no', you don't dream, or 'no', you're not gonna answer?"

A heavy sigh from Naru's side of the room. "If I'm answering and I didn't want to answer, then it's obvious that I'm answering your first question, isn't it?"

I take a moment to process the sentence.

- MENTAL SLAP NO. 3 -

My brain cells go reasonably defunct round about 12am (ie. Inner Mai tries to take over), so it takes a while to get a hold of what he's saying. "You don't dream? How's that possible?"

"Dreams are not important to me."

I pout, even though it's dark and Naru can't see me. "That doesn't answer my question."

"Yes, it does."

A pause, whilst I think about it. Well, _my_ dreams are very important to me. Anyone want to hazard a guess as to why? I'll give you a hint: it's dark, brooding and doesn't seem to like me (and no, it's not Lin-san).

"… That reminds me." I perk up at the sound of Naru's voice. "I want you to wake me up every time you get a dream that's related to the case, Mai. If your ESP picks up on anything, anything at all, just wake me up, ok?"

"Er, sure." Does dreaming about your boss count as 'case-related'? "Hey, Naru–"

"I thought you wanted to go to sleep?"

"I did, but then–"

"Goodnight, Mai." The sounds of a head flopping onto a pillow float up from the floor.

"Hey! Naru–!"

There are a series of shuffling noises as Naru moves under his covers. "Maybe I should start reading again. You know, since you're awake and all…" I see the shadow of his head bob upwards as he makes for the light switch.

"Alright, alright, I'm sleeping!" I bundle myself up in the bed to prove it. Anything to stop him from reading that stupid book with the lights on full blast. "Goodnight, Naru."

Naru calmly slides back beneath his sheets a few moments later. "I thought so."

"Hmph," I say. "Who'd want to read a Spanish book anyway?"

"French."

"You know what I mean."

"Not really. You see, to me, 'sleep' means closing your eyes and resting in complete silence for a few hours. For you, it seems to mean 'Let's switch off the lights and have a nice long chat.'"

"Hmph." More shuffling under my blanket. "Point taken, point taken… Goodnight, Naru."

"That's the third time you've said that."

"So? At least I'm nice enough to wish you a 'goodnight'."

"It's 12:08 in the morning."

"Well, then: good morning."

Suddenly the room is bathed in bright yellow and Naru is standing by the light switch, looking subtly devious. He plops himself down on his make-shift bed before my horrified – and squinty – eyes, and pulls out his book. Flicking to his last page, he takes out the bookmark and settles back down to reading.

"Naru, what are you–?"

"Didn't I say that I wouldn't be able to read until the next day?" Naru asks, fingering his chin thoughtfully as he surveys the print. "And as you just said: it _is_ the morning of the next day, now."

"I can't believe this." I drop my head into my hands and moan.

"Nor can I. I mean, _being_ pales before _nothingness_ because consciousness is more spontaneous than steady seriousness… you should really read this, Mai; it'll do you good."

_This is gonna be a long night._

**o.O.o**

Monday, 02:29am

Somewhere along the line of bantering, trading various insults and throwing the odd pillow or two, I manage to actually shut my eyes and fall asleep. I think Naru eventually does the same – after I steal his book and threaten to throw it out of the window – and our bedroom drifts into the heavy state of slumber. At last.

Needless to say, I dream. I wake up in a light world that sparkles gently before fading into whatever scene I'll be looking into tonight. _Today_. Whatever. Thanks to Naru, my sense of time has been seriously disrupted.

The backdrop surreptitiously moulds into a image of a road. I rotate my head for a quick 360 degree inspection, realising that it's actually the road leading to the our latest client's house. Shrugging to myself, I walk forward at an almost-run, knowing that the Koizumi's house will be just round the corner.

"Mai."

"…Naru." His appearance comes a little later than usual. I don't see him approach me; first, he's in the distance, then he's practically breathing down my neck from our close proximity and it makes me stiffen. His face is contorted in a scowl. I take a step away from him and stare into his face.

"Mai, you have to get out of here. It's not safe." Naru delivers the warning without any preamble and I take another involuntary step back.

"Hello to you too," I say.

"Mai, I'm serious. Please, leave, before it's too late." The pleading takes me by surprise. Naru's handsome face, though still wearing a frown, is openly begging me to listen to its plight. That, coupled with the cheesy line he's just used made this feel more and more like a crappy Hollywood movie than one of my prophetic dreams.

"What's going on?" I ask, curiosity piqued. There's nothing in the world like the threat of imminent death to get your adrenalin running, dream or no dream. "Do you know something about this house? About the boy haunting it?"

Dream-Naru shakes his head in a firm 'no'. "Go, Mai! You have to get out!"

"Why?" You see, 'getting out' involves waking up, and I worked damn hard to get to sleep. Who in their right mind would undo everything that they went through with Real-Naru – all the arguing! – just to obey Dream-Naru?

_It's just as well you're not in your 'right mind' anyway, Mai._

Insert inner growls here.

"It's not safe." Naru intones gravely, hair whipping about his face in the wind.

_Yeah, I got that bit after the first fifty times of you telling me, Naru_. "Why not?"

Naru makes an impatient sound and reaches out to grab my arm. I dance just out of reach of his outstretched fingers. "Mai, please, you have to go. You have to get out!"

It's strange how the urgency in his voice only makes me resist further. I dodge past him, intent on getting to where I'm supposed to go, to collect the information that I feel Real-life Naru has entrusted me to get. Whatever it is, it must lie at the house.

"NOT THAT WAY! MAI!"

I risk a glance back at Naru, who's running desperately after me as I take off down the street. But when I look forward again, the last thing I see is a tall, blond male standing in the middle of the road. He's mouthing something at me but I can't make out what he's trying to say.

Then, I'm falling, falling from a considerable height, plummeting into a dark _dark_ something. My internal monologue tells me that it's impossible; no-one can fall so far on solid ground. Either way, I don't know if I'm screaming, but I can't seem to move or save myself. I hear Naru's receding voice somewhere above me.

"MAI!"

My thoughts are not hazy. Just blank. Perhaps that's just as well. A second later, my body slams into something with such force that I can't feel anymore. My skin, my limbs, my face - everything succumbs to something akin to numbness, but too cold to be just 'numb'. By now, I'm trying to scream, but no sound reaches past my lips.

Then, the suffocation begins.

**o.O.o**

Monday, 02:31am

It isn't common knowledge, but Naru was never one for sleeping. Indeed, as he lies in the still silence of the night, his exhaustion usually carries him off into Dreamland – so to speak. Naru's dreamless sleeps are what he sees as a waste of time; what's the point of spending half your life lying in bed when you can be doing something so much more worthwhile?

He turns over unconsciously to face in the direction of Mai's bed, wide awake and opting to cruise through his second-favourite pastime: thinking, the first being annoying said assistant. He looks up briefly to see that his she's twitching a little in her sleep, the movements throwing up shadows around the room against the pale moonlight that's coming in through the window. Mai's dreaming about something spectacularly obscene, no doubt.

Naru wouldn't know. He doesn't dream.

A minute later and she starts to move a bit more violently. Naru frowns, watching. Mai jerks and he wonders whether he should wake her. Rising fluidly and brushing back his mussed hair, he leans over the bed; his hair just falls back across his face as he inclines his head downward.

Mai stirs. Naru watches for her reaction as he reaches a hand out to prod her softly. He extends his arm, not expecting her to be aware of him, when she suddenly throws herself across to the other side of the bed, a muffled cry escaping her lips as she goes. Naru barely has time to straighten with abrupt shock before she rolls back towards him so that he has to catch her before she tumbles off the bed.

Time to wake her up.

Mai flinches at his touch, and Naru registers vaguely how cold her skin feels. And sweaty. He gives her a gentle push so that she's back in the center of the bed. Wiping his hands on his T-shirt, he bends over once more so that he's speaking directly into her ear and says, "Mai? Mai, get up. You're having a bad dream or something. Mai…?"

Nothing happens. Naru frowns. He watches a bead of sweat trickle its way down the edge of Mai's hairline, similar droplets slip-sliding over the peaks and creases of her deeply puckered brow.

"Mai. Mai?"

More droplets of perspiration appear on her forehead. Too late, Naru realises that Mai's chest is too still to be handling the life-giving action of breathing. Too late, he leaps onto the bed and begins to shake her, to try and wake her. Too late.

"MAI!"

**o.O.o**

Monday, 02:34am

Sayuri's eyes flicker open as soon as she feels the familiar icy cold hit her skin.

_Not tonight. Please, not tonight…_

A few noises come from the room next door – where Naru and Mai are – and Sayuri wonders whether the two ghost hunters are still awake. Her lungs abruptly constrict without warning. _Shit_. She has to warn them that It's here…

She stumbles out of bed, aiming for the door handle.

A small thump and gasp; wordless proof that she doesn't make it.

**o.O.o**

**A.N. **_…And I just HAD to end it there. Nice cliffy, huh? Previews, anyone…?_

**o.O.o**

_**PREVIEW…**_

_**. File 4 .**_

…

I blink away the water in my eyes, bringing my face up out of the darkness. My mouth opens further to take in more heaving gasps of air, feeding my starved lungs and replenishing the flow of blood to my brain. Coherence is something I will never take for granted again.

My eyelids drift open, closed, open closed – lights blink chaotically in front of my line of sight, eventually bleeding a few muted colors back into a somewhat distinct film of vision. My head is raised off the pillow, my back arched and aching from the strain and I am gasping, panting, trying to absorb as much oxygen as my chest can permit. My hands grasp desperately at the bedsheets as if to assure myself that I'm really still here.

"…Mai?"

My eyes widen. Naru's hands are clinging to my shoulders and his face is infinitesimally close to mine. Our noses are touching and I'm sure that he can feel my hot and frantic breathing against his skin. His eyes gaze at me shrewdly from beneath a shock of black hair, darkened by lack of sleep and something like a forced sort of calm.

So…what was that about coherence again?

…

… _**END PREVIEW**_

**o.O.o**

"**REVIEWS are LOVE"**

_Thanks for reading._

**Daygoner**


	5. File 4

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ghost Hunt

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ghost Hunt.

**A.N. **_WOW, we've already hit the 100 reviews stage! THANKS, people, that's great – keep 'em coming!_

_Ok, I'm not sure if the __**wireless cameras**__ that feature in this fic are actually real, but for the purposes of this story, they now exist in the Ghost Hunt world._

_**To the anonymous reviewers:**_

_**Nameless**__ – Ah, so much love from your review! I really have nothing else to add – I'm just smiling insanely after reading it! Thank you so much for offering such sweet and enthusiastic words of encouragement. I know this'll sound cruel, but I'm actually pretty glad that the cliffies are killing you (ha, I'm such a sadist) because it shows just how hooked you are! Great to hear from you and hope you like the latest chapter._

_**Sana**__ – Thanks for the review – nice to know that you're enjoying it so far. Here's the latest 'file', sorry it's a bit delayed. Enjoy!_

_**Selenity**__ – Oh, so you watch the anime? Well, I read the mangas but I've watched up to the – I think – 15__th __episode of the anime… Lol, as for 'more more more', here's 'File 4'! Thanks for the review – have fun reading!_

_**Rayne**__ – Hey again. 'Scary' huh? Well, I'd never thought of it being scary (which is stupid, because it is GHOST hunt, after all), so that's a really good perspective you've got on it. And I've read Vol. 6 – to be honest, I didn't really like it (no Naru/Mai developments!) partially because I swear the characters looked a LITTLE different to usual (and I'm not just talking about their hairstyles). The scary bits were really good, though. Anyway, thanks for the review and hope you like 'File 4'._

_**Kyohaku**__ – I'm glad that you commented on the characters and the flow of the fic – you've reassured me that I'm taking it in the right direction. Thanks for the encouragement, and I'm really sorry for not updating for so long. So, here's the fourth 'File', delivered with many apologies and thanks._

_**Teresa**__ – Whoa, that was a really long and detailed review! Thanks! But, um, no offence, I have NO idea what 'Gakuen Alice' is (sorry!), but I'm guessing that you read a fanfic there where the author went really OOC? Anyway, I was thrilled to hear that I was keeping out ghost hunters relatively IC – and don't worry, I won't make their 'relationship' perverted at all (God, Naru – perverted?!). Thanks for the review and I hope you continue to enjoy the rest of the fic._

_**Unseen Watcher**__ – I could have just sent you a PM, but I thought this would be a bit easier. Don't ask why (I'm weird like that). Anyway, I probably won't use the phrase until a bit later on the fic, but, as I said, I'd be glad to credit it to you. Thanks! Have fun with 'File 4'!_

_**Psychic**__ – Your review was to the point – I like. /Smiles/ Glad you're enjoying and hope that you carry on in the same fashion!_

_**Sage Kitten**__ – Oh, well, if anything confusing crops up again, just let me know if I can remedy it. Perhaps my style differed because there was an excessive amount of Naru/Mai interaction? Heck, even I can't tell and I'm the author! Either way, I hope you liked the chapters, strange as they may have been._

_**Nina**__ – Ah, another anime watcher! Sorry about the cliffhangers – I tend to be rather generous with those /evil grin/ as I'm sure you've discovered! Hope the wait wasn't to painful – thanks for the review…onto the latest chapter!_

**o.O.o**

**Ghost Hunt: Inerasable Secrets**

**. File 4 .**

_Sayuri's lungs abruptly constrict without warning. _Shit_. She had to warn them that It was here…_

_She stumbles out of bed, aiming for the door handle. _

_A small thump, a small thump; wordless proof that she doesn't make it._

**o.O.o**

Monday, 02:35am

For the first time in his admittedly short-lived life, Naru has no idea what to do. He thinks, in a hazy retrospect, that he really should have attended the first aid classes his parents tried to force him into when he was younger; instead, he had decided to dedicate his time to learning the artful classic that is: Latin. While this is all very well and very useful when reading into literature, it also means that he has less knowledge of first aid than a boy scout fledgling let loose in the county's local park.

Then again, he sincerely doubts that regular first aid lessons dealt with the rather pressing matter of a 'dream-strangulation'. He can see it now: _'Turn to page thirty of your textbooks, class, and we'll begin the next course: What to do when you're getting choked by the supernatural… If you could prepare your crosses and salt shakers, please…'_

Mai jerks beneath Naru and he tenses. She goes still once more.

"Dammit." He places his cheek close to Mai's lips, only to detect no air movement against his skin. She is not even stirring. Despite being shaken so violently, Naru's part-time assistant appears to have no coherent awareness of the real world around her, lost in her own dreams and made-up dimensions. He shakes her again.

"Come on, Mai…"

**o.O.o**

I have always been a good swimmer and a competent diver. I recognise the cold chill that I'm steeped in only a few moments after I plunge into it, but my strangely-numbed brain takes far too long to process even this string of seemingly simple thoughts. Instead, I concentrate wholly on trying to breathe, trying to take in a whiff of oxygen before I pass out. The water itself is too cold to be water, but too fluid and real to be anything but. Does that make sense? No. Nothing makes sense right now. I struggle for the surface.

"_Can you see me?"_

I jerk in surprise and clap a hand to my mouth. The voice is clear and undistorted by the surrounding waves, clear, like a child's voice. It's masculine, not as low or resonant as Naru's, but glassier and unbroken. There's desperation, there. Hope. I squint and swivel my head, but can see nothing through the darkness.

"_I think you need to breathe, Mai-chan."_

I turn quickly to the source of the sound, but my declining sight makes out nothing but mist and black smog. My mind performs a momentary flit between sanity and madness. Am I dying? Is this some perverse parody of angels and white light? Heck, am I going to become the very thing that I help hunt – am I becoming a ghost?

"_Don't be silly, Mai-chan. All you have to do is _wake up_."_

…Wake up? I look up and see something green swimming in and out of focus above me. A blink, and it's gone. I tread water furiously, not getting anywhere the 'surface'. The panic bubbles up in my chest again when I realise that I still haven't taken a breath; it's been… too long.

"MAI!"

I scream. The sweet taste of air fills my mouth, my throat, my lungs and my mind explodes into consciousness. I've resurfaced. The faint echo of voices shouting my name resonates dimly in my head; one of them is Naru's – I think – and the other is totally unfamiliar. I blink away the water in my eyes, bringing my face up out of the darkness. My mouth opens further to take in more heaving gasps of air, feeding my starved lungs and replenishing the flow of blood to my brain. Coherence is something I will never take for granted again.

My eyelids drift open, closed, open closed – lights blink chaotically in front of my line of sight, eventually bleeding a few muted colors back into a somewhat distinct film of vision. My head is raised off the pillow, my back arched and aching from the strain and I am gasping, panting, trying to absorb as much oxygen as my chest can permit. My hands grasp desperately at the bedsheets as if to assure myself that I'm really still here.

"…Mai?"

My eyes widen. Naru's hands are clinging to my shoulders and his face is infinitesimally close to mine. Our noses are touching and I'm sure that he can feel my hot and frantic breathing against his skin. His eyes gaze at me shrewdly from beneath a shock of black hair, darkened by lack of sleep and something like a forced sort of calm.

So…what was that about coherence again?

"Naru…" I say, and the word crawls past my lips like a brick that's covered with sandpaper, running slowly along the insides of my throat. I wheeze and suck in an extra breath for good measure, the contents of my stomach giving a painful lurch. Naru shifts uncomfortably on top of me, as if just noticing what an – um – _unprofessional_ position we're in.

"What happened?" he asks quietly, sliding off my legs. No, sorry, sliding off my _lap_. No, no, 'legs' it is. Sliding off my legs. Yes.

"…Uh…" I have to replay his question three times to myself before I understand what he's asking – and a further three times again to catch the edge to his voice, the slight worry. Well, either that, or Naru actually repeated himself six times, which is also plausible. I'm too busy registering that there's still a slight depression in the matress where Naru's placed himself oh-so-conveniently next to me. That, plus my near-suffocation experience means that hyperventilating right now would just about benefit my health as much as feeding me a bucketful of arsenic.

"Mai?"

"I think… I think I need water…" I say faintly, stalling for time to get my thoughts into a somewhat thinkable order.

Naru frowns and makes to get up from the bed, but I thrust out a hand to stop him. "Wait!" Water? I'm asking for water? After almost drowning? _Hello, brain, time to start thinking things over, now._

My boss feels like an oddly hot statue beneath my cold fingers. He stiffens at my touch, alert to the strain in my voice, but totally oblivious to my completely smashed trains of thought.

"I – don't want water." Wow, smooth going, real smooth. "I have to tell you about… I've got… something to tell you." I think I've just set the record for the Longest Time Needed To Complete A Sentence. Go me.

"…Ok." Naru seats himself back down on the bed. "I suppose getting drinks for people is your job anyway."

"Nice to know you c-care about me so much." Jeez, whoever thought talking would be so difficult? And thinking, _god_, my head hurt.

The matress squeaks under Naru as he moves toward me. When he speaks, his passive voice dispells a couple of the freaky neon-lights that are prancing around the room like horses on crack. Oh boy. "Mai? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine… You know, apart from nearly dying and all," I say as nonchalantly as possible, ignoring the fact that my retort comes out sounding like an out-of-tune violin. Maybe water isn't such a bad idea after all.

"What happened?"

"Nothing much," I croak, eyes still slightly out of focus. "Saw stuff… the house…" I clear my throat. "Then I fell and it was really dark. It felt like… it felt like _water_, Naru. At least I think it was. It was cold and dark and really… really lonely." My speech is decorated quite violently with sporadic bouts of coughs and wheezes. Naru listens with stiff patience as I spit out each sentence.

He gives noncommittal sigh after digesting what I've said. "Water doesn't have feelings, Mai."

I find it strange that I have the energy to get angry at this, but can't even summon the strength to yell back at my antagonist. "I was describing how it – _cough_ – felt, Naru! I can't help it if I picked up on some – _cough_ – strange feelings that aren't meant to be there!" I glare lividly at the seventeen-year-old.

"That's it?" he asks evenly.

"Yeah," I say, fuming.

"You're sure?"

"As sure as I am of the fact that you're a total – _cough_ – _jerk_."

"Hn." Naru gets off the bed and the matress springs again. A light spell of dizziness shuffles across my consciousness but is gone when I plonk my head back down on my pillow. I close my eyes, trying to stop that irritating buzzing that's in my ears and wipe away all the annoying blinking lights that serve as potential 'you-are-about-to-faint' warnings. And all the while, I have to ask myself: why does this always happen to me?

The shrill call of a phone ringing jars me from my internal angst-ing. Naru bends over his pack, extracts a glowing/vibrating cell and pushes a button before placing the earpiece to his head. "Lin."

I listen curiously, but there's not much to listen to. Apart from the fact that I know it's Lin down the line, I don't get anything else – Naru remains oddly silent down our end. In fact, within two seconds of answering the call, Naru's throwing the phone back onto his matress and bolting from the room. I swing myself off my bed, preparing to follow.

"Naru!" I flop unceremoniously onto his adjoining matress and more lights spring up around the room. Uh-oh.

My wooziness reaches a Level 9 on a scale of 1-10. I'm distantly aware that I'm squashing Naru's cell phone beneath my right knee, but it takes me a few seconds to pry it from under my largely uncooperative body. "Lin-san," I rasp finally, "Are you still there? It's me, Mai."

"Taniyama-san," he says, hints of tension carrying in his voice. "What's going on? Where are you? Did you get there in time?"

I pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration, then, upon realising that it's a very 'Naru' thing to do, slap my forehead quite forcibly instead. The buzzing sounds in my head increase by several decibels. "Woah, Lin-san, slow down. – _Cough_ – What's going on?"

"I just asked _you_ that – look, just – just put Naru back on the line."

"I can't! He just – _wheeze_ – ran out when you called!"

"Why aren't you with him?"

" – _Cough_ – Does it _sound_ like I'm fit to be doing anything active?" I snap, unleashing a sharp stream of anger on Naru's senior assisstant. I sigh, then grind out a hasty apology. "Sorry. Just – I'm sorry. I'll fill you in later, uh, just – _cough_ – please tell me what's going on."

There are sounds of tapping and clicking down the line and I realise that Lin-san's playing around with his computer. His voice crackles back online after a few seconds of frantic pattering-on-keyboard noises.

"I still can't reboot it…"

"Lin-san?" I quickly decide that hearing the mysterious Chinese man sounding anxious is horribly unnatural and I don't like it. "What's going on?"

"The system just went down a minute ago; all the monitors went black and I can't get us back online."

"Where – _wheeze_ – are you?"

"… In the van. Outside."

_So he IS staking the place out. _"Are you _spying_ on me and Naru?"

"_Naru_ asked me to monitor the situation from outside – but, listen, Taniyama–"

"So he was – _cough_ – lying to Sayuri?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Naru said that he couldn't conduct his experiments externally–"

"Taniyama-san," Lin-san interrupts stridently before I can get any further. "Listen to me; before the feed was lost, there was a drastic loss in temperature in Koizumi-san's room. I saw her get out of bed, but she collapsed before she reached the door. Then the screens went black."

"…Oh no."

I get up and tumble out of the room. The discarded cell phone lies prudently against the covers on Naru's bed and Lin-san's metallic voice carries from the earpiece as I stumble after my boss.

"_Taniyama__-san! Wait…!" _

**o.O.o**

Monday, 02:43am

When I burst into Sayuri's bedroom, I find Naru helping her to sit up off the floor. "Sayuri!"

"Shut up!" Naru hushes me, laying a hand on our client's lower back. He softens his tone as he addresses her. "Can you stand, Koizumi-san?"

She's gasping like a fish out of water, clutching at her chest whilst tears stream down her cheeks in steady gushes. She wheezes in between quiet moans and hiccups. Her vulnerability is hard to ignore; the fact that I was in this situation not ten minutes ago makes some sort of impact on me and I surge forward to engulf her in a hug. I press her head into my shoulder and feel the warm sensation of her wet tears seeping into my shirt. Naru looks mildly surprised at my actions, but I ignore him. He wouldn't know 'comforting' if it upped and stabbed him with his own hitogata.

"I c-can't deal with this…" Sayuri weeps into the fabric of my PJs. She leans heavily against me and I pat her back.

"We'll fix it," I murmur. "We'll fix it."

Sayuri pushes away from me. "How?" she asks, a culmination of tears and phlegm clogging her windpipe as she speaks. "How can you s-say that when you have no idea what it's like?"

I frown, ever uncomprehending. "The suffocation? The cold? Sayuri, I–"

"No," she wails, shaking her head until I swear I can see the pupils in her eyes dancing inside their irises. "No…"

"I don't understand," I admit in a soft whisper.

Sayuri wipes away her tears, smearing the tear-tracks that criss-cross over her cheeks. She looks like she wants to glare at me, but can't seem to find the energy to do so.

"You wouldn't," she says harshly, breathing deeply before she can complete a larger sentence without passing out.

"No one could possibly understand loneliness like that."

**o.O.o**

Monday, 03:39am

"Well, that took a while." I collapse on the bed back in our room and groan to Naru whilst smacking my head against a pillow. The actions make my brain cells explode like fire crackers, but I can't seem to stop myself. "She's really scared, Naru. She won't even go back to sleep."

Naru stays silent and I catch sight of him texting Lin-san. The poor Chinese man has been left out of the loop for the past hour, so I allow Naru the chance to send him an update. Actually, I'm rather surprised that Naru's senior assistant hasn't come climbing in through a window to get in on the action – sitting at a computer all day every day must get pretty boring.

"How would you feel, having to cope with something like that every night of your life?" Naru says softly, dropping his phone into his case and sitting on his mattress. His voice travels away from me and I can tell that he's not looking or speaking in my direction. I shift until I'm resting against the headboard of the bed and can see his face from my elevated eye-level. His expression, like his voice, betrays nothing in relation to his thoughts – only that he's deep _in _thought and doesn't wish to be disturbed. He leans his head against the wall and releases a hissing sigh.

"Naru?" I say, coughing a little to clear my throat. "What's wrong?"

My boss lifts a hand to his forehead and swipes away two strands of hair that have fallen across his brow. "Nothing. I think Hara-san should be here when Koizumi-san has these nightmares – perhaps she can get a better feel for the spirit when channelling the visions from the actual person who is being haunted."

I sit up straight at this comment, an indignant pout set on my demeanour. "Excuse me," I say haughtily, the effect of my irritation making my charred voice sound even rougher, "but I think _I _just did all the channelling there. What's wrong with my account of what happened?" Whilst coaxing Sayuri to tell us what had happened in the course of her dream, I told Naru what had occurred – in more detail - in the process of my own nightmare (minus the presence of Dream-Naru, of course). We had deduced that there were undeniable parallels between my visions and Sayuri's. Basically, it seems as though I'm channelling the images that are tormenting her in her sleep. So why the hell does he need–?

"Hara-san," Naru answers impassively, "is a much more established psychic. She may be able to see a lot more during one of these dreams than you or Koizumi-san do."

Sayuri and I had drunken innumerable amounts of water whilst Naru interrogated us; my voice has somewhat regained it's fluency since then and I am not coughing or wheezing nearly as much as before. Nevertheless, Naru's implication that I'm not as useful as Masako on his team has me seething and subconsciously summoning a powerful wheeze in the pits of my chest. "Well, pardon me for not seeing anything much," I say acidly, "but when you're drowning, there's really nothing much _to_ see… Except maybe your _life_ flashing before your eyes – you know, as you _die_."

Naru stares at me. "I understand that you're upset after your brush with death," he says in that patronizing tone of his, "and I respect that you are afraid, which is why I suggest that I call Hara-san in to take your place."

I supress an angry squeak and end up coughing wildly into a fist. "Not a chance!" I bellow. "I may not be as accomplished as Masako in her field, but I _can_ do some things. And I'm _not_ afraid. I'm not even 'upset'."

"Clearly." Naru inclines his head toward me, and smirks.

"Look, if you really think that I'm not up for the job, then at least tell me straight up instead of making up some excuse so that you can be with your – your _girlfriend_ or something," I say coldly, glaring at my boss. "I don't mind leaving because you doubt my skills, but I won't step down unless you give me a good reason to."

Naru raises his head. "What are you talking about?"

I don't understand how unsubtle I can be sometimes, nor how oblivious Naru is about it. "Nothing. Forget it." I cloak myself with the duvet and close my eyes.

"What 'girlfriend'?"

I snort. "Masako. Who else?" I'm quite pleasantly surprised by how even my retort is. No trace of jealously – sorry, _anger_ – whasoever.

There's a silence that's fraught with glaring tension and I take this to either mean Naru's considering a good come-back or what I've said has hit home and that he's just letting the statement settle between us. After all, didn't Masako announce to the rest of the SPR team that she and Naru socialised out of business time quite often?

"What makes you think Hara-san and I are involved?" I hear him moving on his bed, but don't face him.

"She said you guys go out a lot," I say, as if merely commenting on the weather. "And she seems pretty into you, so–"

"That doesn't mean we're together."

"…No, I suppose not."

"So why were you getting jealous?"

I flush at this and turn over to swat him with my pillow. "I wasn't jealous!"

The pillow _thwacks _satisfyingly against Naru's face. "Sure you weren't," he says.

"I wasn't!" I hit him again and he brings an arm up to defend himself. "Why would I be jealous of _her_?"

"She's cleverer, for one. Prettier, too."

"You son of a–"

I squeal when he swipes my pillow from my hands and almost topple off the bed in that moment of instability. I grasp hold of my matress tightly and regain balance, only to be thrown back into my duvet as Naru sends my pillow back at my face. I convince myself that the redness of my face is only due to how hard he had hit me with the offending missile. "Naru, you idiot. That hurt."

"Love hurts."

"Love? Who said anything about love?"

"Well, there's me and Hara-san, obviously. You're the one that brought it up."

"You were the one that wanted to know."

"Why are you jealous of Hara-san?"

I fluff up my abused pillow with what I hope is a disinterested air. "What is this, twenty questions?"

"Was I supposed to find some sort of answer in that?"

He's put me in an awkward position again, damn him. "It's just – it's just not fair that she gets to do more than me on any case because she's more advanced or skilled or whatever. It's just – I want to help solve the cases, too."

"I can't do anything about your… uselessness," Naru tells me dispassionately and I sock another pillow at his face. "Well, I can't help it if you can't do half the stuff everyone else can."

I huff. "You could at least _teach_ me."

Naru shakes his head. "Some things can't be taught."

"So, what, I'm a lost case?"

"…Pretty much."

"Thanks. That's really… encouraging." I settle back down on the bed, feeling deflated rather than irritated by his low opinion of me. His implied praise for Masako is further indication that I cannot compete in such a league. I sigh. "I guess this means that I'll be replaced by Masako tomorrow?"

"That would be more appropriate," Naru agrees, without skipping a beat. "I think I'll have Lin call her in the morning."

"Well, she'll be thrilled to bits," I grumble, staring up at the ceiling.

Naru pauses to contemplate this, and I have a funny feeling that he's going to boast about how he can have any woman doing what he likes for him. "It doesn't matter whether she's happy or upset about it," Naru says eventually, tone dismissive. "So long as we solve the case as soon as possible."

I'll admit to a little surprise – his total Me Me Me philosophy still has me reeling. "Aw, you're so thoughtful, Naru-chan."

"I do my best."

"…No, I meant about yourself."

He pauses to think again, and when he does speak, there's a hollow but mockingly serious tone to his voice. "Oh, if I were to think of myself in this situation, I'd definitely pick you over Hara-san."

"…What…?"

Naru chuckles. I strain my ears to pick up exactly what he says, my attention hanging off his every word.

"I would definitely pick you over Hara-san," he reiterates quietly, "because she's not nearly as fun to piss off as you… Goodnight, Mai."

He turns under his covers and falls silent. I breathe out deeply and curl my body tightly under my own duvet. Smug bastard.

"Goodnight, asshole."

**o.O.o**

_**PREVIEW**_…

_**. File 5 .**_

…

The water sluices down dark clumps of his hair, down his arms, across his chest, eventually pooling around his feet. There are knots in his shoulders and in his neck that he desperately wants to relieve, but can't reach with his own hands – and he sure as hell isn't going to get someone else to do it for him. He passes a bar of soap across his skin, inhaling its heady, floral scent and leaning heavily against the bathroom wall. The tiles are cold against the skin of his arm, the icy touch grounding him and his hazy thoughts like an anchor to a ship. He wipes a hand across his face and squints at his surroundings through a veil of thick water vapour.

At first, he thinks it is the trick of his mind, a flicker of his sight. He blinks continuously, but there's no water in his eyes. Water splashes; his lips are pinched, and he tries not to blink. His hand fumbles blindly for the tap, to stop the spray from beating on the glass door, from destroying –

_**YOU CAN'T GET RID OF ME**_

He watches as unseen fingers trace dribbling characters across the foggy glass, rushed, clumsy and almost illegible. With a final wrench, he shuts the faucet behind him and the last few clouds of steam billow past his cheeks, dissipating into nothingness.

_**BEWARE**_

…

…_**END PREVIEW**_

**o.O.o**

_Wanna spread the love? Feel free to drop a review!_

_Thanks for reading._

**Daygoner**


	6. File 5

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ghost Hunt.

**A.N. **_IMPORTANT:_

_Ok, this has happened to me __TWICE__ now, and it's getting rather ridiculous. I can swear on my life and on everything that's good and holy that I had not seen Episode 20 before writing this chapter and ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY DID __NOT__ steal the ideas in that ep. (you'll see what I mean) for this 'File'._

_Bottom line: don't sue or flame, dammit! _

'_**Thank-you's to…**_

_**Nameless**__ – Hello again! Ah, yes, I am cruel with the cliffies… but they ARE rather addictive once I get down to writing them! Either way, you're so enthusiastic about this story and my 'good writing skill' that I can't help but want to _torture_ you with them… sorry, I meant 'indulge' you with them! And I bet your writing's waaay better than mine; you don't want to embarrass me into hiding by releasing one of your own fics! Lol. Thank you for your praise all the same – /smiles/ it's making me feel big-headed (I think I'm turning into Naru… damn). Hmm, and you think YOU ramble… look at the length of this chapter!!_

_**Me**__ – I'm glad you liked the previous chapter and I'm sorry it took so long for me to get this one up. Hope you enjoy the rest of the fic!_

_**Eilly**__ – Heh heh heh… so much for 'updating soon'! I'm glad that you like Naru/Mai interaction and I'm sorry to inform you that __this is the end__!! No, not really, but there's just a bit more about the case in this chappie. But hey, without the cases, there wouldn't BE any Naru/Mai, would there? Lol, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this 'File'._

_**Rayne**__ – Yep, the vol. 6 plot was GREAT (just watched the anime as well… one word: amazing). But then again, that's what fanfiction is for, isn't it? Us hopeless shippers have to come somewhere for our source of Naru/Mai. Oh, and I love making Naru have the last word with Mai… that's just the sort of guy he is, right?_

_**Saau-chan**__ – WOW, you reviewed all five chapters! Thank-you very much! Argh, there's really too much for me to reply to… you've pretty much covered all the bases that I was concerned about when writing this. I'm glad that you like that I've written it in the first person because I've never really been good at these kind of accounts (I'm more of a third person person… hehe); and 'yay' for the IC label – those are the words I LOVE to hear; I gather that you like the way that the characters interact, which is also wonderful to hear (ah, another Naru/Mai lover); I'm particularly pleased that you picked up on the blonde-haired boy… aren't ESP dreams fun?; oh, and please don't die because of this really long update time – I'm sorry! I've made up for it with an extra long chapter… and a bit of a cliffy, which is what everyone likes (muahaha). SO, after all of that/glomps you back/ I give you lots of love for the reviews! _

_**Elamaton**__ – To be honest, there isn't enough GH fanfiction full stop – which is a shame because it's such a good manga/anime. I'm glad that you like where this fic is going and that you think Mai is IC. My take on Naru has a slightly devious edge to it, no? Well, what can I say; I like those kind of men! Thanks for the review – and happy reading!_

_**Damnreccaishot**__ - /bows/ I take that applause with mucho gusto and a bit of a blush /blushes/. And yes, we have another case of the Naru/Mai fangirl, here; I'd just like to take this time to tell you that I've __stopped__ indulging… SHOCK HORROR, yes, it is true. Lol, not really – I'm a crazy fangirl too! However, there IS a bit more of Masako in this chapter… dunno whether that bothers you too much, but she DOES have a purpose (to steal Naru-chan from Mai… hehe). I'm actually thinking of boxing them all in one room, just to see how long it takes for them to kill each other, that is if the tension – as you so rightly put it – doesn't get to them first. XD Hope you like the update…! _

_**Nekogirl3603**__ – I've finally purchased Vol. 6 of the manga and found out that Mai's parent's are dead – sorry for the mix-up in chapter 3! Either way, it's great that you're enjoying it nonetheless, and I hope it goes the same way for this chapter; thanks for the review… and onto the long-awaited 'File 5'!_

**o.O.o**

**Ghost Hunt: Inerasable Secrets**

**. File 5 .**

_Naru chuckles darkly on his matress by my side. "I would definitely pick you over Hara-san," he reiterates quietly, "because she's not nearly as fun to piss off as you… Goodnight, Mai." _

_He turns under his covers and falls silent. I breathe out deeply and curl my body tightly under my own duvet. Smug bastard. _

"_Goodnight, asshole."_

**o.O.o**

Monday, 07:19am

When my phone rings, I'm awake to answer it, so Monk-san sounds a little surprised. "Mai? You're awake?"

"Yes," I say, stifling a yawn and clearing my throat. My voice has finally evened itself out, after endless glasses of water and a full hour of relentless coughing. "You sound surprised, Monk-san."

"It's early, that's all. Thought you'd be asleep."

I scowl and settle back down on my pillow. "If you thought that I'd be asleep, then why did you call?"

The former monk sounds sheepish. "Uh, well, I just wanted to check on you."

"Hmph. I'm fine."

"You're sure? What's up with your voice? Have you got a cold?"

"No. I had a little – um – incident."

There is a harsh intake of breath down the line. "What happened?" Monk-san sounds like he's skating on thin ice.

"Er," I begin haltingly, "it's a long story – I'll tell you about it later–"

"It's that Naru, isn't it? What did he do to you? Are you alright? Tell me–" Monk-san's voice gets squeakier and squeakier with each fleeting question.

"Monk-san, what does this have to do with Naru? He didn't do anything to m–"

"–Did the ghost attack you? Did you do something stupid? You didn't go _looking_ for the ghosts, did you? Oh, Mai, how many times–"

"What are you talking about?! I don't go looking for ghosts – they come looking for me!"

The former monk makes a high-pitched 'ah' sound and I can just about imagine the light-bulb going off in his head. This can't be good. "Oh, I see. You were attacked by the ghost and you were screaming for help, so your voice went hoarse. That's it, right?"

I roll my eyes and sigh loudly. "Brilliant, Monk-san. Your powers of deduction are simply _amazing_."

"So I'm right, aren't I?"

"Of course you are," I drawl, in a perfect imitation of Naru's tone towards me. Not that it's anything to boast about.

Monk-san takes all of this into his stride. "I'll kill that Naru-chan," he says, suddenly vicious, and I wrinkle my nose in puzzlement.

"Why?"

"'Cause he's meant to be taking care of you in place of me!"

My face colors at this comment. "What's that supposed to mean? I don't need a babysitter!"

Monk-san ignores me and it looks like we're both imitating Naru today. "I'm gonna kill him," he repeats, bloodlust sparking in his voice.

"I don't need anyone to look after me," I tell him again, annoyed that he's still hung up on any basis for wanting to kill my boss. "Besides, Lin-san's staking the house out from the van. There are cameras monitoring everything that goes on in here – we couldn't be safer. But anyway, Naru's asking Masako to-"

"Lin-san's there too?!" Bloodlust seems to turn into indignance, now. My own annoyance at not being able to finish a decent sentence for the past few minutes dissipates when I realise that Monk-san must feel about as left out as I feel about being replaced by Masako. Not that he's letting me inform him of this latest development Naru's plans, that is.

"Oh, you weren't told either, huh?" I say lightly, leading up to explaining more about our current situation whilst trying to comfort him at the same time. "Well, Lin-san's not actually _in_ the house – just sort of 'stalking' us – so I guess you shouldn't feel too left out–"

"Hmph." I hear the distinct sounds of keys being retrieved and arms being thrust into coat sleeves. "I'll see you in a minute, Mai."

"…Wait, Monk-san, where are you going?"

A door closes down the line. "Just let Lin-san know that I'm coming over to crash."

"Whoa, Monk-san you're not–" …_Dialling tone… _"–serious…?"

"Who was that?" Naru walks back into the bedroom just as I throw my cell onto the bedside table. His hair clings to his damp face, skin flushed from his morning wash.

I snort. "None of your business."

My boss raises an eyebrow but says nothing. He folds his towel neatly and places it back in his case. A second later, his own cell phone chirps loudly, the screen lighting up and screaming 'Incoming Call'.

"Lin." Lin-san _again_? Something's telling me the anti-social brat that is Mr Narcissist doesn't have anyone else recorded in his phone book. Aw. What a poor, conceited loner.

"_Naru. I just got a text_," Lin-san reports mechanically. "_From Takigawa-san_."

For the second time today, I find myself eavesdropping on the Princes of Darkness aka Naru and Lin-san and their little chit-chats. When Monk-san's name is mentioned, I perk up with a bit of interest.

"And? What does he want?" Naru rakes the hair off his brow and dries his hand absently on the side of his shirt.

"_He says 'If you can stalk them, then I can too.' I'm not sure if that's supposed to mean something, but–"_

Naru's already turning round to face me and I release a hollow giggle.

"Mai…?"

"Hehe… well, the thing is…" I begin, scratching offhandedly at the back of my head. Naru sighs in a dramatic way.

"I knew I had another reason for getting rid of you."

**o.O.o**

Monday, 09:25am

Persuading Sayuri to go back to bed was _difficult_ – heck, try 'borderline impossible' – but getting Monk-san to believe that Naru hadn't left me to drown in my dreams last night (we _finally_ managed to tell him exactly what had happened – and he _still_ managed to take his own spin on things) is so far-gone past the line and past another border, that I think we have to come up with a whole new category for it.

"Hopeless," I mutter faintly after Naru and Monk-san trade childish insults for the better part of the fifteen minutes that they have since been in each other's company. "Absolutely hopeless."

Lin-san, allowed in the house now that Sayuri's parents have gone to work, sits with me in an almost grim silence. "Indeed."

I'm not even aware of the movement of his lips as he speaks. The full cup of tea I have poured for him sits glumly by his elbow. He and Naru are notorious tea-drinkers, but again, I have yet to see them take a sip before I have to fetch them a dozen or so refills.

I drink thoughtfully from my own cup of tea, observing him with the same measure of quiet in which he has submersed himself. The carefully moulded mask of indifference is in place, but there's an indiscernible twitch in his fingers, as if he's itching to – well, to itch something. He drums his fingers on the table, a poor substitute for his faithful keyboard, staring off into space and, occasionally, at our boss and Monk-san who are bickering by the sink. Nearly everything about the man reminds me of Naru, from the shade of his hair color (though, if there are different shades of black, I have yet to know of them) right down to the peak of his Don't-Talk-To-Me-Don't-Touch-Me posture.

The description 'Princes of Darkness' springs to mind without much effort or indeed, conscious thought.

"Takigawa-san seems to be extremely concerned about your welfare," Lin-san murmurs suddenly.

"Tell me about it," I say. "But I guess it doesn't really matter since Naru's kicking me out soon."

Lin-san stares at me for a weighty second and proceeds to chuckle softly into a fist. "You sound pleased about that," he says, watching my face closely for a response.

I look away and try to go for an offhand shrug that roughly translates as: 'Do I look as if I care?' "Masako is more skilled than me at this. She can help out with the case more." It's a shame that my voice sounds about as brittle as cracked glass when I say this. It's a dead giveaway of my discomfort around this topic, if you know what I mean.

"I suppose you're right," Lin-san voices his agreement and I turn back to glare daggers at him. "What?"

"You're supposed to reassure me," I grumble, fiddling idly with the handle of my teacup, "and tell me that I really do have skills and experience that rivals Masako's." I grin somewhat feebly at Lin-san to let him know that I'm joking. (Just a little.) (Partially.) (_A lot_.)

"But you don't," comes Naru's disparaging voice from behind me. I start and release the teacup from between my fingers, causing the china to rattle on the table. "What's the point in lying just to reassure you?"

Naru slips gracefully into a chair opposite me and shuffles some notes that he has managed to procure from nowhere. Monk-san flumps into the seat to my left, looking a lot less upright than my boss and a hell of a lot more frazzled. I make to ask him why he looks so depleted, but he merely holds up a hand and lets his head fall back so that he's staring at the ceiling. I watch, fascinated, as a single thread of saliva stretches between his top and bottom jaw, as his mouth lulls open in a slack show of defeat.

"What did he do to you?" I say, patting Monk-san's arm affectionately.

Naru taps a pen against the surface of the table and quirks an eyebrow at me. "What, no silly comeback?" he asks.

"Shut up, Naru," I retort after a couple of beats, for lack of better response.

"Have you called Hara-san yet?" is Naru's sole reply, directed at Lin-san (with a small smirk for that added 'eau de arrogance' effect).

Lin-san nods. "Yes. She'll be here soon."

"Excellent."

Naru takes to perusing through his papers and penning in additional notes every now and again. Lin-san resumes his tapping on the table and Monk-san just keeps gazing at the ceiling forlornly, uncharacteristically quiet. I divide my attention between each of the three men, eyes flickering from each silent figure to the next, waiting for someone to speak. Seconds tick by. Minutes crawl past. Inner Mai grows impatient.

"So… what's gonna happen to me?" I ask finally, subduing my inner voice to the best of my abilities. Naru turns a page in his notes and writes something down.

"We'll cross that hurdle when we get to it," he says, passing the page to Lin-san to read.

I huff disappointedly. "I thought you were a person who looks before he leaps?" I say, squinting at him. "No pun intended."

"Well, there's nothing stopping you from coming into the house and helping out," says Naru, slipping another page into Lin-san's hands and poking a line graph at the bottom of the sheet, indicating at an anomalous point as his assistant nods thoughtfully.

"Helping out?" I repeat. "But I thought you said that I'm – what was the word? – 'useless'?"

"Not really," Naru sighs, circling the odd figure or two as he evaluates his notes. "You have _some_ uses."

"Really?" The unexpected lift of my ego has me sitting more attentively in my seat.

"Yeah," my boss says with the easiness of a fox with a chicken in its mouth. "Making tea is a very useful skill, wouldn't you say, Taniyama-san?"

**o.O.o**

Monday, 10:07am

_Just open the door, just open the door, just open the door…_

"Ah, Masako. Long time, no see!" _Fake smile – twitch – fake smile – twitch…_

"… You saw me just yesterday."

"… Eh, you know what I mean. How are you?"

"This house makes me uncomfortable, but I think I can assimilate to the atmosphere fairly quickly."

"Er… I'll take that as an 'I'm fine', shall I?" _Fake smile – fake smile – fake smile… must __not__ falter…_

"Hm. Where's Naru?"

_Got any other words in your vocabulary? _"Just through here."

"I see he's exhausted your usefulness, then?"

_There's that word again! Why does everyone keep using it in relation to me…?! _"Heh, I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, Masako."

"Only that you obviously can't handle the case without a _real_ psychic in the vicinity." _Stop smirking into your sleeve, dammit. _"Naru needs _me_."

"…That's nice, Masako." _Wow, the both of you are so freaking self-assured, maybe you really deserve each other. _"Hey, guys, Masako's here." _(Can we please get rid of __her__ instead?)_

"Hello, Naru." _There ARE other people in the room, you know._

"Hara-san."

"How have you been?"

"Fine."

"I heard you were having trouble with the ghost?" _Well, not really. It's all tea-parties and dinner dates with this spirit. We just wanted to invite you along for the ride. (Suffocation comes free with every night spent here; see end of dream sequence for date of _your_ expiry). _

"We just need a better medium to channel some of the dreams that Koizumi-san's been having."

"I would be happy to oblige." _Not that we can't tell that from your bright, shiny, come-hither-Naru smile_. "Where will I be sleeping?"

"… We'll have to ask our hosts about that. I'm sure they can lend you another room–"

"–But I thought Mai was leaving and I was taking her place?" _Yes, I'll miss you too, Masako. _"Wasn't she sharing a room with you?"

"As it stands, I cannot ask Mai to leave." _Huh…? That wasn't what you were saying last night or this morning, you conniving jerk. _"At the moment, she's masquerading as my sister and Koizumi-san's former best friend. It would be awkward if she left suddenly."

"… So… she's staying?" _Try not to sound too excited. _

"I see no other alternative." _YES! I'm staying! YES! Why the hell doesn't anyone else find this a good thing? _

"Oh. Well. That sounds like fun." _Right back atcha, Masako-chan. _

"Definitely." _What's that look for, Naru? _"Mai, make me some tea."

"Ok. Anyone else want some?"

"Actually, before you do that, could you take my things up to my room?"

_Ouch. Her arrogance rays – they're blinding. _"I'm not your porter, Masako."

"But I'm tired from my trip."

"You mean your forty step 'journey' from the door of your car to the kitchen?"

"Are you taking my bags or not?"

"Not. I don't even know what room you're in anyway."

"Oh, I'll sleep with Naru. And you."

_I'm not liking the implications of that sentence. _"Er, that's gonna be a pretty tight fit."

"I don't really mind."

_Oh, I'm sure you don't. _"But–" _I mind!_

"I'll have to ask Koizumi-san." _Yes, yes, Naru – for once, I agree with you._

"…Ok."

…

…

_This silence is killing the atmosphere._

"That's not fair!" _And the silence is broken_… _What a strange way to enter the conversation, Monk-san. _"How come _she_ gets to stay and I don't?"

"We've been through this, Takigawa-san." _So cold, Naru, so cold._

"But–!"

"Tea, Mai."

_Aw, don't make that face, Monk-san! _"Don't worry, Monk-san. I'm sure Lin-san will take you in."

"Hey!" _Wow, I've never seen the Chinese man look so alarmed._

"Nobody wants me…"

"That's not true, Monk-san, don't say that!"

"Mai, I believe I asked for tea."

"Only if you let Monk-san stay over, too." _Ah, the powers of blackmail. And tea._

"Don't be ridiculous, Mai."

"_I'll_ make tea for you, Naru."

_Woah, back off, psychic girl. _"That's MY job, Masako."

"Then do it." _Whose side are you on, Naru?!_

"…Hai."

_Don't worry, Monk-san. We are all wanted and needed for something, even if it's for the littlest things. _

"Why are you still standing around?"

"I'm going, I'm going!"

_But sometimes, it's the littlest things that really count._

_Like tea-making. _

_Yeah, right._

**o.O.o**

Monday, 10:21am

When I eventually set a very nice cup of tea in front of my brooding boss, he doesn't even drink it straight away. Annoyingly enough, he gets up from his seat and asks me to take more temperature readings from around the house – with _Masako_, of all people – and exits the room with Lin-san. Monk-san downs his own tea with a loud gulp, then reaches for Naru's discarded cup.

"Right, let's go," he says after drinking that too, wiping a sleeve across his lips and rising.

"You're coming with?" I ask, glad that I won't have to be stuck with Masako (because God knows we don't make the friendliest of people). "Great! Pass me that sheet on the table, would you? Now, how do you work this think again…?"

"I would have thought you'd at least learnt _something_ from Naru, considering how much time you guys spend together."

I indulge in a couple of internal growls before tossing the electronic device at Masako, not missing the bite in her tone. _"You_ do it then," I sniff indifferently, sliding the sheet of paper Monk-san hands me into my trusty clipboard with a loud snap, and rummaging around one of the kitchen draws for a pen.

"Now, now, girls," the former monk hushes Masako before she can retort. "Play nice or I'm telling on you."

I snort. "To Naru? The worst he can do is chuck me out of this stupid slumber party, which isn't such a bad thing considering who else he's invited." Masako's eyes flash as I glare at her.

"That hurts, Mai," Monk-san whines, pouting and breaking up the tension between us two girls. "_I _wasn't even invited in the first place!"

"You're not missing out on much," I assure him. "I mean, it's just me and Naru… all _alone_ in a _bedroom_." Masako twitches and Inner Mai pumps a fist enthusiastically.

"_And _a creepy ghost that's intent on killing you and Koizumi-san," Monk-san adds, a cutting edge to his voice that makes me desist from antagonising Masako for a second. Last night's incident was not quite the walk in the park I thought the case would turn out to be, and I'm not – in the least – looking forward to experiencing that sort of thing again. Perhaps, now that Masako's here, the ghost will target her as a medium instead?

…Yeah, and I'm the next Uri Geller.

"Stop worrying, Monk-san," I admonish said man, quickly trying to change the subject. "I'll be fine. Well, shall we get on with this, then?"

Masako's already heading out of the door. "Naru will be wanting these soon." Trust her to have only Naru-chan's wants and needs in mind. "We can start in the living room first."

We're only done with two rooms when we hear a skin-crawling scream and the telltale noises of a ghostly incident coming from upstairs. We all bolt up to the first floor to find Naru stepping slowly out of the bedroom, touching his chest and staring at his hands. I take a closer look. In between his fingers, trickling down the cuffs of his shirt are the unmistakable droplets of fresh red–

"Paint," Naru says blankly, turning towards us fully so that we can see that his face has also caught some of the crimson substance. The vibrant liquid dribbles down his neck, looking horribly lifelike and deadly. "Koizumi-san, would you mind getting me a spare towel? I don't want any of this to stain your carpet."

I exhale sharply and lift my jaw (which, I think, has made a sizably deep imprint on the floor) before doling out a breathy, "What happened?"

Sayuri emerges from the bedroom, carrying her sister in her arms. Michiko seems innocently oblivious to the whole scenario, as she takes to grinning happily when she catches sight of my face. Lin-san follows, though he zips straight past us and disappears down the stairs. Our client's shaking, eyes wide and shining with that deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression. "Shibuya-san… I'm so sorry… I didn't know… Oh, my God…"

"Koizumi-san, would you like to go downstairs and sit down?" Naru's auto-responsive, no-nonsense tone makes the girl flinch, but he pays her no heed and takes her by the arm, pushing her off brusquely. "Don't worry. We'll have it cleaned up in a moment."

Monk-san and I share a puzzled look as the trembling girl and baby disappear down the hallway. "Naru, what happened?" I repeat shakily, rushing forward to inspect the sight of Michiko's bedroom.

_**DANGER**_

The walls and windows are covered in some sort of fantastical display of angry words and bloody penmanship.

_**NOT SAFE**_

The _drip drip_ of congealing liquid rains like crimson precipitation on Michiko's tables, cot and floor.

_**WARNING**_

The sun plays off the wet fluid, making the redness seem evermore menacing and hostile.

_**DEATH**_

And the arterial spray of words scream in all volumes of malice and malevolence.

_**BEWARE**_

"It's trying to tell us something," says Naru.

"Well, you don't say…" I mumble, a little sarcastic.

Naru brushes a hand across his cheek, smudging the paint there. "Or," he says, with the barest hints of foreboding, "Koizumi-san did this herself."

I unfurl my arms but leave my fists clenched by my sides. "It wasn't her," I tell my boss severely, a keen dislike for his groundless paranoia bubbling in the pits of my stomach.

Monk-san comes into the room and surveys the scene. His face is carefully neutral as he offers his opinion: "She's right, Naru. There's no way the girl could have reached the ceiling, even with a chair or something. She's way too short."

Naru shrugs, still trying to wipe off all the paint from his face. "I cannot rule out all the possibilities."

"Monk-san just ruled it _out_ as a possibility," I snap.

"I've sent Lin-san to check the cameras," Naru continues. "Hara-san, could you please take another look around, especially this room and Koizumi-san's? See if you can sense anymore heightened spirit activity around these areas… Mai, when he gets back, help Lin-san get this stuff off the walls."

Naru turns to leave. Just as brushes past Masako, she reaches out a surprisingly deft hand to stop him as he makes to exit the room. "Where are you going, Naru?" she asks him coyly, peering at him from beneath a fringe of dark hair.

"Research," he says, prying her fingers from around his wrist. She looks a bit put out by his subsequent lack of response, but doesn't let this deter her.

"Don't you need to get that paint cleaned off?" she says in an – if possible – even coyer tone. "I could help you if you like."

For the second time in the past fifteen minutes, my jaw hits the floor with a dull thud, anger at Naru turning to something greener and uglier towards Masako. Oh My God. Could the girl _be_ any more obvious?! What is she thinking? Naru would never take her up on that offer, so why bother asking?

"I would like that a lot, actually."

…

…

…

I retire briefly from the conversation whilst my internal monologue descends into fits and mucho screaming.

"Great." Masako smiles sweetly at my boss. MY boss.

"What?!" I splutter.

"Good," Naru says to Masako, finally shrugging off her hand. "You're right, I _do_ need help to get the paint off." His eyes flash and I suddenly feel my insides clench: he's up to something. "I recommend that you don't use bleach or you'll mark the wallpaper. And make sure you don't rub too hard and scrape it off – that goes for you too, Mai," he adds slyly, nodding his head in my direction. He turns and strides out of the room, leaving a company of bemused people in his wake. Masako stares at his retreating back.

There is a pause.

Monk-san lets out a low whistle. "Naru sure knows how to handle the ladies," he says to the young psychic with an impish grin.

Masako 'hmph's and sniffs into a sleeve and I celebrate Naru brushing her off very internally and silently, but this feeling is pretty much blasted to a million pieces when Lin-san troops into the room, carrying an array of scrubbing brushes, mops and cleaning utensils.

"Aw, man, do we have to?" Monk-san moans, nevertheless deciding to pick up a lethal-looking mop and a bottle of cleaning solution. After he's done, I select a brush and wet-cloth half-heartedly and stare at the surrounding walls.

"I'll take 'death'," I say, pointing at the designated word. "Jeez, it really looks like blood, doesn't it, Monk-san?"

Monk-san pulls a face. "It's a bit too bright for blood," he says, preparing to balance himself on a chair and Michiko's cot at the same time, "and it smells like acrylic. I'm taking the ceiling, by the way… you might not want to stand there, Lin-san, 'cause I ain't no feather when I'm falling."

I laugh as Masako drifts over to the 'not safe' emblazoned across the windows and Lin-san hurries away to work on 'warning' on the opposite wall. I spray my spot of the wall and begin to clean, but the runny liquids just blend and dribble further down the wallpaper, creating more of a bloody mess. I grimace and resort to simply scrubbing away at the morbid note, pausing occasionally to yell at Monk-san, who's raining water/paint on my head as he slaps the dirty mop against the ceiling.

"Hey, Lin-san, how did Naru get all that paint on him?" I ask, the question nagging me for some time after Monk-san landed a rather nasty glob of crimson on the back of my neck.

"He was being _courageous_, as usual," comes Lin-san's hedged reply. He slaps his cloth against the wall with renewed vigour and rubs furiously.

Whoa. "Eh… I'll ask him later, shall I?"

"Hn."

"…Ok." Yowch, touchy subject. Whoever thought a ghost and a pot of paint could do so much damage? The fragile silence that follows is only filled with the sounds of water and cloth against wallpaper, and I can just about feel the tension emanating from Lin-san like a potentially life-threatening radioactive wave. It's a bit like locking yourself in a room with only Naru and his Vibe for company.

"Hey, Mai, could you pass me that bucket of water? I think I need to soak my mop again." Monk-san: ever the breaker-upper of tense moments.

"I'm not giving you anything. The last time I held up that bucket, you sloshed water all down my shirt!"

"Come on, Mai! I'm not coming down from here just for that!"

"Stop being so lazy! Look, you can even see through my shirt, now! It's transparent!"

"…Heh heh, er, no offence, but there isn't much to look at, so…"

"Hey… hey, Mai, what are you doing…? Yo, hey, don't do that – what are you doing to the chair? Mai – no – Mai, stop it, _stop it_ – not the chair, not the – MAI!"

Masako flicks a glance in the direction of the perilously perched monk and me, who's determinedly trying to play daruma otoshi with him stacked on top of a chair and cot, before resuming her cleaning activities.

"Children," she sighs, so that we can all just about hear her. Lin-san rolls his eyes as Monk-san takes that moment to fall like a sack of potatoes off a cliff.

"OWWW!!"

**o.O.o**

Monday, 10:48am

He's not sure whether hearing an alarming crash come from the baby's room down the hall is a good thing, but Naru's most certainly not coming out to inspect on it. No, not after taking so long to assure Koizumi-san that he's perfectly fine and doesn't need someone to check him over. But, yes, it would be nice to have a shower and get a fresh set of clothes on, thank you very much.

_Does this count as 'research'? _he asks himself as he peels off each sticky layer of dark clothing. There are faint patches of red leeching across the skin of his chest, but already cracking on his cheek where most of the paint has dried.

No, maybe not quite _research_. But mulling things over in a shower has always had its merits.

Naru turns the tap and adjusts the heat of the water to his taste: blisteringly hot and blindingly steamy. His feet protest painfully when he first steps into the shower, but this feeling is quickly lost in the torrential spray that eventually burns his body into a raw mass of wet muscle and sleek hair.

After taking a few moments to rid most of the paint from his face, Naru stops cleaning to simply absorb and adapt. The water sluices down dark clumps of his hair, down his arms, across his chest, eventually pooling around his feet. There are knots in his shoulders and in his neck that he desperately wants to relieve, but can't reach with his own hands – and he sure as hell isn't going to get someone else to do it for him. He passes a bar of soap across his skin, inhaling its heady, floral scent and leaning heavily against the bathroom wall. The tiles are cold against the skin of his arm, the icy touch grounding him and his hazy thoughts like an anchor to a ship. He wipes a hand across his face and squints at his surroundings through a veil of thick water vapour.

At first, he thinks it is the trick of his mind, a flicker of his sight. He blinks continuously, but there's no water in his eyes. Water splashes; his lips are pinched, and he tries not to blink. His hand fumbles blindly for the tap, to stop the spray from beating on the glass door, from destroying –

_**YOU CAN'T GET RID OF ME**_

He watches as unseen fingers trace dribbling characters across the foggy glass, rushed, clumsy and almost illegible. With a final wrench, he shuts the faucet behind him and the last few clouds of steam billow past his cheeks, dissipating into nothingness.

_**BEWARE**_

There is more, but he can't make it out. Not quite hammering, not quite thundering, Naru's heartbeat is only substantially faster than usual. _What is going on…?_

Water suddenly erupts from the showerhead and Naru holds in a wince.

"LIN!"

The freezing water pelts Naru like a barrage of icy bullets. The message bleeds away from the misty glass, leaving no evidence of it ever existing. Naru shuts the tap with slight difficulty and steps quickly out of the shower. He reaches for a towel and wraps it firmly around his waist.

_It's freezing._

There's a jarring knock at the door. In retrospective, Naru praises whoever invented towels and simultaneously curses whoever didn't install intercoms in the Koizumi's bathroom. When he opens the bathroom door, who else is he to assume it is, but–

"Naru!"

"…Hara-san?"

**o.O.o**

**A.N. **_No previews this time (sorry!), but I think this chapter was long enough to make up for it…? Still, we have a Masako/Naru ending here – which is what we all wanted, right? (Well, there goes my Naru/Mai indulgence XD)_

_**Remember: no flames or suing! (Reviews are cool, though). **_

_Thanks for reading._

**Daygoner**


	7. File 6: Part 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ghost Hunt, just the first six volumes that sit on my bookshelf…

**A.N. **_Just need to take this moment to thank everyone who's read and reviewed – we're now at the 200 reviews stage, so thank you VERY much to all for spreading your love!_

**_Daygoner now spreads _her_ love to:_**

_**Flowergirl** – Sorry to leave you hanging for so long on that cliffie! I'm getting worse at updating, but I'll try and sort it out (I've got the next part of this File mostly written, so I'm getting there!). Hope you continue to enjoy and thanks for the review._

_**Nameless** – Hah, I love replying you your reviews! Speaking of which, when you typed 'no review?!' I'm guessing you meant 'no preview?!' – lol, don't worry, I've left a pretty long and nicely vague, might I add, preview this time to make up for it /wink/. Oh, and I'm sorry about the lack of Naru/Mai stuff – this chapter ain't got much either – but I'll be back on track with _all_ character relationships in the next part of File 6. It's good to know that your enthusiasm for this story hasn't burnt out nonetheless (yeah, I haven't updated in AGES, have I?) – and hip hip hooray for you writing your own GH fanfic! Good good, I can't wait to read this… and you're dedicating it to me? Wow, no-one's ever done that for me before! I'm… honoured, thanks! Phew… I think I owe you mucho love for that, so enjoy the whole of File 6 (once I post the next part) – this one's for you!_

_**Imperial Rain** – Thank you so much for that correction! I'm so careless about things like that, sorry! Anyway, if there are any other mistakes, then please do tell me so that I can correct them. Thank you._

_**Rayne** – Hmm, I wonder why everyone's got something against Masako. Lol, is she really that bad? Anyway! Sorry for taking so long to update – rest assured that I've written most of the next part of the File and I will update as soon as I get back from my trip. Hope you enjoy and thanks (once more!) for the review!_

_**Teresa** – Woah, a death threat – I haven't had one of those in a while, lol. Oh, and we have another Naru/Mai supporter here – everyone hates Masako! – so you're gonna have to bear with me 'cause I'm gonna keep her around for a while longer, at least… hehehe. Jeezum, I'm so sorry for not updating for so long. The second part to this File is mostly written, so I'll update fairly soon after I get back from my little leave of absence – and don't worry, I can 'let slip' that there's gonna be a bit more Naru/Mai development in the next part; but shhh, I didn't say that /wink/. I'm genuinely touched that mine is one of your favourite stories; that means a lot to me so here's a HUGE DOSE of love from me to you! Thank you!_

_**Digiwing** – Ha, don't worry, this is definitely still a Naru/Mai story (though, what everyone's got against Masako, I don't know… not that I like her much either, lol)! Glad you're enjoying the story; I'm sorry for not updating in so long (God, I swear I have to type this every time I update!) and I hope the rest of the story doesn't disappoint!_

_**Nyaranran** - /Hugs back/ I'm glad you like! Hehehe, that was such a cute review! Thank you, hope you like this one too…_

_**Saau-chan** – It would have been a nice addition into the Naru/Mai relationship if it WAS Mai who walked in on her boss; still, a little Naru/Masako on the side never hurt anyone, did it (you're right: all us crazy fangirls have every right to be envious!). Again, you've commented on all my areas of importance (am I really that funny? Lol) – here's the first part of File 6, long-awaited as per usual (/grimace/), and I hope it's as worth the wait as the others!_

…_**Someone…** - Well, if you're lovin' it, then I think I've done what I've set out to do. 'Nuf said. Lol, thanks /grin/._

_**Sakura** – XD Hehe, right back atcha. Thanks for the review, hope you enjoy the update!_

_**Harrypottermanga** – I'm sorry for not replying to your reivew in kind: I wanted to reply in French, but it was really beyond me... I will try harder next time! I read one of your stories and really enjoyed it - I'm glad that you like mine as well. Thank you for your review and hope you continue to enjoy the rest of the story!_

_**JustME** – I wonder why you couldn't review Chapter 6… must be crapping up again /sigh/. Phew, I'm sorry for taking so long to update; I promise I'll try to update the next part of this File sooner, 'cause most of it is already written. Your favouritism of this fiction is such a boost to my ego /blush blush/, I'm VERY flattered! Thank you very much for your wonderful support – all my hugs and affection go out to you. /Smile/ Without further ado… enjoy!_

_**Yethisme** – Oh boy, so many people have asked me to update quickly and I do the complete opposite! God, I'm so disorganised. Anyway, I really hope you carry on luvin' the story! Thanks for the review, hope I don't disappoint with a long update period again… /grimace/._

_**Hiro** – Aw, it was soo sweet of you to review every chapter! I think I'd better bow down and thank you for that feat – 6 reviews in one go! Go you! – so here /bows down/ Thank you very very much for your generosity! Also, I'm really glad you're so addicted – such an ego boost, my head is way too big for my shoulders, now – and I'm glad that you find it funny! I'm usually a serious and non-jokey person, so it's a bit of a release to write like this. Oh, and hehehe for the cliffies! I'm pretty bad with those… 'torture' is a good word to describe it. Hope the one at the end of this chapter doesn't do too much damage… Wait, did you say you're gonna be stalking me? Oh dear, not ANOTHER one, lol. I swear I'm picking up these like honey trapping flies (I'm actually secretly flattered by this. But you didn't hear that form me…). Anyway, sorry for taking so long to update – here's the first part of File 6; hope you enjoy and keep on enjoying! _

_**YeahjustMOI** – Hey, are you the same as 'JustME'? Sorry if you aren't (the name's are so similar, I was beginning to wonder…). I'll write a separate reply, either way. Thanks a lot for your review; it's a relief to know that I must be doing SOMETHING right for you to like the story so much! Sorry for taking so long to update – since I've pretty much finished the next part to this File, the next time I update should be not-so-far away. I just need to get back from the States first /wink/. Thanks for the review: enjoy the chapter!_

_**Chelle** – Yay! You think the characters are IC? Grrr, I swear, OOCness is really the bane of my life so thanks for reassuring me in that aspect of the fanfic. Anyway, thanks also for the review and I hope that this chapter is a continuation of the 'good work' you complimented me for. Enjoy! _

**o.O.o**

**Ghost Hunt: Inerasable Secrets**

**. File 6 .**

**- PART ONE - **

_There's a jarring knock at the door. In retrospective, Naru praises whoever invented towels and simultaneously curses whoever didn't install intercoms in the Koizumi's bathroom. When he opens the bathroom door, who else is he to assume it is, but–_

"_Naru!"_

"…_Hara-san?" _

**o.O.o**

Monday, 11:03am

"OW!"

"Hold still!"

"You're hurting me!"

"Well, if you'd just stop moving–"

"What are you doing, woman?! You're killing me – ow!"

"Don't be silly, it's just a little bruise. You would've avoided it if you had fallen a bit more _gracefully_."

"…'Gracefully'? '_Gracefully_'?! Tell me, how does one fall 'gracefully' when holding a mop and balancing on a chair on top of a cot, with some crazy girl swatting at his legs?"

"…Well, you could've at least tried not to dive straight into the water bucket. I know there's a lot of water in there, but it isn't a swimming pool, Monk-san."

"That's so mean, Mai! You sound just like Naru!"

"You told me that before. I guess I'll take it as a compliment."

"Gah, there's no reasoning with the both of you."

I snicker deviously as I press the bag of ice cubes harder against Monk-san's cheek. Really, I think there's nothing there, but he insists that I've bruised his face (_cough_ ego_ cough_) for life. He squirms under the slight pressure and shrugs me off again. "Monk-san!"

"Ah, it's ok. I can do it." He takes the bag off me and touches it gingerly to his cheek again. "You see: gently does it…"

"'Gently does it', my butt," I say, with a funny grin, hitting at his elbow affectionately. "Are you sure you're ok? Did I really hurt you?"

Monk-san winces in apparent pain at the contact and I look at him testily. There's a small spark in his eyes and an indiscernible quirk of his lips as he stares back from behind the ice cube bag. I hit him again for making me worry and he flinches (probably from real pain this time round).

"You're cruel, Mai-chan," he tells me serenely, opening the bag and popping an ice cube into his mouth to munch on. He leans back leisurely in his chair, and I can tell he has no intention of going back to the bedroom to finish cleaning up. So lazy… Men.

"Yeah, yeah," I say dully, just as Sayuri enters the kitchen. "Oh, thanks for the ice, Sayuri. It's helped to ease his pride a lot."

"Hey!" Monk-san crunches another ice cube, one side of his mouth much more inflated and lumpy than the other. He holds up a hand suddenly, scrunching up his face and letting loose a loud hum. "Hmmm! Brain-freeze!"

Sayuri grins a little, visibly amused by the former monk's melodramatic gesticulations. She seats herself across from him, balancing Michiko on her lap as I ask her how she's feeling, doling out general reassurance that we'll get everything sorted out soon. Monk-san nods his agreement to this, then mumbles to himself that we'd solve the case a lot faster if Naru'd let him stay over, too. I swat him on the upside of the head.

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask you something about the dream," I say carefully to our client, holding out my hands to take Michiko off her. The baby is deposited in my arms and she giggles happily at the change of seating arrangements. I jiggle her around a bit on my knee and address her older sister again. "That is, if you don't mind… I know it's pretty hard to talk about these things."

"No, it's ok." Sayuri settles back in her chair and crosses her arms across her chest as though warding off a cold breeze. "I was just a little – uh – alarmed to go in and find… to find what had happened in Michiko's bedroom. It thought all this weird stuff was just confined to my room… Thank God Shibuya-san was there," she adds with blatant relief.

"Hmm," I say, reminding myself to ask my boss about what had _really_ occurred with our unfriendly ghost and the red paint. "Anyway, I just wanted to ask: in your dreams, is there ever a man sort of – sort of standing outside your house? He's quite tall… has blondish hair…"

Sayuri thinks for a moment. "He's standing in front of the house? Is he waiting for someone or walking past?"

"No, just standing and looking at your house. Then he turns to look at me, but I can't really see who he is…"

"Hmm. Well, I can't say that I've seen this man. He sounds a bit like my dad, though." She grins. "Was he fat, too? 'Cause then I'd bet it's him."

I smile and bounce Michiko lightly on my lap; she squeals and lets a bit of baby-drool dribble over her front. "With my dreams, you never know."

"You know, I have the same dream nearly every night, and it always manages to be slightly different each time," Sayuri admits in an undertone.

"What do you mean?" Monk-san asks her, looking deceptively laid-back though I can tell he's genuinely interested in what she has to say.

"I know this sounds stupid, but I can't really tell. I don't see people in my dreams – ever," Sayuri aims this at me and I shrug. "But I usually end up going to different places in different dreams. Always start off at the house, though."

"Maybe the spirit is trying to show you to the place where it wants you to go?" offers Monk-san, munching on another ice-cube and sucking thoughtfully. "I'm not really one for dream interpretation, but sometimes, doing or seeing certain things when sleeping is seen as a form of fortune-telling."

"Really? So what does a falling dream mean?" I ask, curiosity piqued. I give the baby a fluffy hair clip to play with so that she doesn't distract me. "Well?"

"Were you listening when I said I sucked at dream interpretation?" Monk-san grumbles, shuddering as he swallows more ice. "I think – and this is a very big 'think' – that a dream where you're falling means that you're scared of something… No, wait… Ah, it generally means that you're not very secure or you're nervous about whatever's happening around you or about something that is going to happen to you. Yeah, that's it…"

"So," Sayuri interjects with a small frown, "you mean to say that I'm afraid of these dreams, so I'm having dreams about being afraid about having dreams because I'm afraid of the dreams… Ok, that was a bit confusing…"

Monk-san shakes his head. "Maybe the _ghost _is nervous about something?" he says diplomatically.

I snort. "Yeah, sure, 'cause dead people have _loads_ to worry about, what with being dead and all."

"It's just a thought."

I roll my eyes and turn back to Sayuri. "Got anything else you need interpreting by the Dream Guru over there?" I say, jabbing my thumb in Monk-san's direction. He sticks his tongue out at me and the ice cube in his mouth lands on his T-shirt with a little _plop. _Disgusting. He's worse than Michiko-chan.

"Well, sometimes, I'm in a car but in the backseat, not driving. I don't know where we're going, but there's no-one else in the car with me."

"Do you fall before or after being in the car?" Monk-san says inquisitively.

"After. But I've only had this sort of dream twice… maybe more. It's really hard to remember the car dreams, to be honest. I don't really know why." Sayuri ends on an apologetic note but Monk-san waves a hand to tell her it's no problem.

"Being in the backseat of the car signifies – again – the lack of confidence or nervousness that you may be feeling," the former monk tells our client. "At least, I think it does."

("And we all know _that's _reliable," I mutter to no-one in particular. Michiko nods her agreement, bless her.)

Sayuri tries again. "What about a rattling noise? Do you know what that means?"

'_Rattling noise'?_

Before Monk-san can answer, I butt in. "What rattling noise?"

"Before I fall in any of the car dreams, I hear a rattling noise," Sayuri explains. "Didn't I mention it to you and Shibuya-san before? It lasts for about a second, but it's really loud. It's usually the only thing that I remember before… suffocating."

"I don't know anything about rattling," Monk-san confesses after mulling this piece of information over. "Sorry. We could get Lin to check it out, though."

I grimace. "Do you think he's done clearing up yet?" I ask, feeling very very _very_ guilty about leaving the poor Chinese man to do our dirty work. It probably hasn't improved my standing with the guy by even the slightest of millimetres in my favour. Oops. "We should really be helping him out."

"Yeah, I guess. You know, Naru should be helping out, too. Being the boss doesn't mean you can just sit back and do nothing, ya know." Monk-san gets up and stretches, cracking a few bones in his spine like the old man that he is.

"Shibuya-san's taking a shower," Sayuri informs us, taking her sister off me.

"He did get a lot of paint on him," I say reasonably. Monk-san grins and teases me about defending Naru.

When we get upstairs, a grim-looking Lin-san greets us with red-washed cloths and extra soap for non-abrasive cleaning. We apologise for leaving him for so long, sigh loudly and then get to work. Not two minutes pass before Monk-san straightens and says something that makes me raise an eyebrow with mounting suspicion.

"Hey, where's Masako gone?"

**o.O.o**

Monday, 11:10am

It's not the best of situations to be in, but Naru has to give the girl credit. She clasps both her hands over her mouth with a high-pitched squeak and acts surprised enough that he doesn't suspect too much that she's faking it. So the poor girl wasn't planning on seeing him half-naked with the added just-out-of-shower look. Fine. Naru just doesn't understand why she doesn't _stop_ looking.

(Well, of course he does. He's gorgeous and he knows it – but now's not really the right time…)

He coughs into a fist and tightens the towel around his waist. "Hara-san," he says again, as evenly as possible, "what are you doing here?"

Her hands remain at her face as she answers. "I was just walking by… I heard you shouting – like you were in trouble… I thought you were dressed, I…"

Naru frowns internally. 'Just walking by'? The bathroom's right on the other side of the house – he's discovered that the hard way; how else could Lin _not_ have heard him calling? – so what is the young psychic doing round here? "Hara-san, please excuse me for a moment. I need to get a change of clothes from my room."

The ghost hunter briefly considers throwing an extra towel over his chest before exiting the bathroom – anything to stop Masako from staring – but decides against it. For a start, he doesn't actually have a spare towel with him and second: since when has he been embarrassed to flaunt himself in front of other girls? Hmph, his pride won't have it. So long as the bottom towel's on, he's going out topless. Joy.

(Suffice to say, Shibuya Kazuya lacks modesty in all forms.)

"Eh, Naru–?"

"Tell Lin-san that I need to speak to him," Naru cuts Masako off briskly, stepping out of the bathroom in all his half-naked glory. The psychic lets her hands drop as she regards him silently with bright eyes. He blinks down at her and breaks into a determined stride that forces her to trail after him as quickly as she can. "It's important," he adds authoratively.

"Why?"

Naru doesn't like being asked unnecessary questions. A couple of beads of water slide down between his shoulder blades as he looks back at Masako as indifferently as possible. "It's about the case," he tells the psychic evasively.

"I can help if you like."

"That will not be necessary."

"Are you sure?"

He stops suddenly at his (and Mai's) bedroom, jerking slightly when Masako collides with his back. He can feel her lingering softly against his skin, but takes no note of it. He turns to see her smiling face beam rays of sunshine at him.

"Please," he says in a strange tone that he reserves only for her, "just call Lin over."

"…Ok."

And she's off, off to do whatever Naru bids. The teenager in question sighs and shuts himself in the bedroom. He muses for a second: maybe, since Hara-san is so cooperative, he should give Mai the sack and stick the (more useful) psychic in her place? It is only logical, after all. His nose twitches.

Then again, perhaps Mai would follow orders with more obedience if he asked nicely. When was the last time he attached a 'please' onto the end of a request? Probably never. Even Lin's not allowed that pleasure, so why should he be polite to Mai?

Why is he so polite to Hara-san?

He shakes his head, letting loose a rain of water droplets over the carpet. The towel comes off and he goes in search of a spare shirt and pants.

Maybe he should be more polite to Lin. Maybe he should be more polite to Mai.

He straightens and looks in a mirror.

Gorgeous.

_Oh, puh-lease…_

**o.O.o**

Monday, 9:43pm

We end the day on a quiet and uneventful note. It's decided that we call in John and Ayako for another exorcism tomorrow and, since Monk-san is moaning so much, he's been allowed take up residence with Lin-san in the van. How they are to fit is a mystery to me, but the former monk is adamant that he has to be around to help out if anything bizarre happens. I suppose it _is_ comforting to have him close by – but I'll be damned if I admit that to him.

Masako's here too. After being introduced to the Koizumis again and eating a H-U-G-E dinner with the whole family – they're a big fan of her TV shows, apparently – it is decided that she will share a room with Sayuri, under the guise that she's another investigator into this experiment thing… yeah, the cover story's been stretched a bit too far for me to remember. Naru does all the talking, anyway.

"Excuse me."

Still, it doesn't seem to sit well with Masako. She seats herself down on my bed, clutching her hands delicately in her lap as she looks around our room with an annoyingly passive expression. I grunt slightly as I shove over to make room for her (does she HAVE to plant her backside exactly where I've stuck mine?).

"Sooo… what are you doing in here?"

"I want to talk with Naru."

_What's new?_ "About what?"

"That's none of your business."

"Fine."

We end up glaring in opposite directions and I find myself wondering what exactly could be delaying Naru's return from Lin-san's van. Perhaps the Lin-and-Monk-san living arrangement is not working too well? What with Lin-san's monitoring equipment and Monk-san's trusty guitar, all squashed in with them – it's got disaster written all over it.

"He was in trouble earlier today," Masako says suddenly. "Naru, I mean."

"Well done," I say callously, without batting an eyelid. "He was attacked by a ghost-gone-Picasso and needed to take a shower. Of course he was in trouble."

"No." Masako breathes into her sleeve, closing her eyes, presumably trying to seem more mournful. "When he was taking his shower, I heard him call for Lin-san. I think he was in trouble."

"Huh?" Well, that's something I have yet to hear about. I quickly prompt her further. "Was he ok? What happened?"

"I don't know." Masako lowers her head and looks at her lap and I frown. Half of my brain thinks, 'Oh, so that's why Lin-san was called away all of a sudden… I wonder what happened?' whilst the other half notes that the sixteen-year-old psychic beside me seems oddly withdrawn and/or upset about something. She sighs.

"Hey… Masako? Are you ok?"

To my surprise, she gets up but doesn't look at me or meet my questioning gaze. She stares unblinkingly at the door, as if trying to come up with something to say. "When Naru gets back, tell him… tell him that I hope he's alright." She shuffles across the carpet, looking as awkward as I feel. "Tell him for me, please."

Wow, the 'please' really throws me. "Uh…Why don't you just tell him yourself?"

Her well-disguised flinch and stiffened posture tells me I've hit a nerve – and upped the awkwardness in the room by several levels. Oops.

"I don't think he listens when I speak to him," Masako admits quietly, an out-of-place smile pulling at the corners of her lips. She's still not looking at me, just staring straight ahead as I try to ease the conversation a bit.

"I know what you mean," I tell her lightly, though it seems like I'm talking to nothing but a pane of unresponsive glass. "Sometimes I think he drones me out on purpose, though I really can't think why…" I laugh to end the sentence, but Masako doesn't join in so I cut myself short and wallow silently in my discomfort. Is there no way of reaching this girl? My fingers trace random patterns on the duvet cover as I wait for her to do something, to say something. She chooses to stay mute – something that Naru does at the worst of times as well. They talk when you don't want them to and they shut up when you least need them too – there really is no compromise with these two.

I glance up at the sound of footsteps to see Masako walking boldly out of the door. "No, Mai," she corrects me sullenly as she leaves the room, "He listens more than you think."

I jump off the bed, ignoring her tone of voice. "You're going? Hey, wait–"

"Just tell him for me."

She goes without another word. When Naru returns a while later ("It took a long time to convince Lin to not strangle Takigawa-san with his own guitar strings." "Whoa! Really?" "…No, of course not, you dope. We just went over some extra case material." "Oh…"), I deliver the message dutifully and scrutinise my boss for a reaction. He stops for a second, then carries on fluffing up his pillow.

"Well?" I ask, impatience getting the better of me, "What are you going to say to that?"

He shrugs and takes out another one of his foreign books. "Does it look like I'm hurt?"

"No."

"Then I'm fine."

"Why don't you tell her that yourself?"

"Why can't she see that for herself?"

"Don't you think that's a _little_ harsh?" I ask, wondering why the hell I'm defending my rival in love, as it were.

"Not really." He flicks to a page and resumes reading. "Get out of the way, Mai. You're blocking my light."

And as quickly as that, the conversation is closed. I pester him for a bit longer, trying to dredge up what was so important that he needed Lin-san to come to him straight away – he merely turns more pages in his book and ignores me.

"I'll tell you once I've cleared something up," he says, exasperated by the fact that I won't drop the subject. Either that, or he's feeling a little threatened by the pillow I'm holding above his head. With emphasis on the 'little'.

"You're always so secretive," I grumble dejectedly. After cursing him for leaving the lights on at night again, I settle down on the readjusted pillow and try to ignore the brightness that surrounds me – that, on top of the thoughts buzzing away in my head and the looming danger of asphyxiating in my dreams, all of which put me in the undesirable mood to stay awake.

"Please turn off the lights, Naru."

"No."

Hmm… what was that about 'listening more than I think'?

**o.O.o**

Monday, 10:15pm

It's strange, seeing as there are no floaty little lights surrounding me as I enter the dream – nothing to signify that I've dropped out of reality and into the land of the weird and wonderful (the 'weird' being the homicidal ghosts, and the 'wonderful' being the nice, smiling Naru). It's actually pretty empty – disturbingly so. I start walking, looking around for my boss and occasionally calling out his name. My voice echoes – which it really shouldn't do in the middle of a street, no matter how empty – and I get the impression that I'm being watched. Hmph, must be that antennae thing that the team was teasing me about after I took the psy-ability test. I touch the top of my head, pouting. Looks like I'm still not over it.

Something touches me.

- I have taken the liberty to filter out the stupid, whimpish scream I make at this. -

(Invented version:) I react with all due decorum and turn with surety and grace. I am calm, impassive and neutral as I face my aggressor with the defiance and audacity of a lion and the schooled expression of… Lin-san's.

(I think I ran out of comparatives there.)

"…Mai."

Naru has finally materialized, his long coat billowing about his silhouetted frame like some life-size imitation of a modern-day Batman movie. His hand rests lightly on my shoulder, his sudden appearance prompting me to feel like I should play a heroic fanfare to welcome him or something. Or maybe I'm just plain happy to see the guy.

"Hey," I say quietly, not forgetting that his hand's on my shoulder. It's holding me back lightly and I eye it with some mild discomfort. Dream-Naru doesn't seem to notice (not the real one would notice… or give a toss…). I try to shrug it off, but he doesn't give. "I'm not going down there again," I tell my boss frankly, assuring him to the best of my efforts. "I'm not _that_ stupid."

But Naru only shakes his head. "It doesn't matter," he says in that direct way of his, still managing to sound somewhat morose.

"Eh? Why not?"

Naru removes his hand from my shoulder and points ahead. "Because he has already reached you."

Mystified, I look in the direction of Naru's finger, but see nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary, at least – there are certainly no other people in the street except for us. I glance at his face to gauge exactly what I'm supposed to be looking for, but his face is about as impassive as the Real Naru's one – making his 'helpfulness' points come to a grand total of zero.

"What is it, Naru?"

He doesn't answer, doesn't even look down at me. I repeat my question and watch as it falls on deaf ears.

"Naru?"

His silence and statuesque stance imbues the atmosphere once more with the feel of complete emptiness and I shrink back into a shroud of uncertainty… and perhaps a little fear. Dream-Naru's presence comforts me, though. My line of sight follows his point again, trying to discern what he's showing me. I take a few hesitant steps forward.

"…_Mai-chan…"_

I turn immediately to stare at Naru. I don't exactly flinch, but the action is big enought to provoke a sharp crick at the base of my neck as a result. "What?"

He doesn't even twitch.

"…_Mai-chan…"_

I'm not scared. Not even nervous. Or, at least, that's what I keep telling myself. The whispery voice breathes chillingly across each individual hair on my skin and my scalp tingles frightfully as I fight against whatever instinct is telling me to just run to the house. It stands, oddly visible though I know it to be surrounded by a frame of trees and foliage. It looks safe, familiar grounds that could dispel these unfamiliar feelings.

There's a boy standing in front of it.

"…_Mai-chan…"_

His hair is pale, much like his skin. He's translucent, almost; from here, I can't make out his eyes because they are too faded and discoloured, too. Like water clinging to a rainbow, his image is blurred to me, his small movements only registering as faint blips on the blotted canvas in my mind. He's mouthing at me again.

"_Mai-chan…!"_

Naru doesn't try to stop me as I surge forward to reach the boy. Horror – indescribable horror and the fast _buh-bump_ of my heart against my lungs fuel my rush into unknown. My blood is infused with the fresh hotness of lethal adrenalin, a feeling that only just reaches my brain before I feel no more. And in that weighty instant of blank determination, I finally catch the last of the boy's words.

"…_SAVE HER…"_

I stop, but I've already fallen. Stumbling into my own grave, as it were.

'_Save her'._

I carry the plea into the darkness. Then the coldness takes over, and my mind can carry no more.

_Save her._

**o.O.o**

_**PREVIEW…**_

_**. File 6.**_

_**- PART TWO - **_

…

Naru's holding my arm tightly enough to leave marks on the skin bared by my T-shirt. He says something, but my head spins for a moment and everything around me loses sharpness in those few seconds. Phew, when did everything become so blurry?

"…Mai…? …Mai…?"

"Hm…?"

I'm vaguely aware of Naru's grip suddenly loosening and then disappearing completely. I teeter on unsteady legs for a couple of dangerous seconds before strong arms wind their way under my knees and around my shoulder blades. And as quick as that, the feeling of instability is grounded against the consistent thump of a calm heartbeat, pulsing powerfully inside a hard cage of bones and muscle. I wheeze mournfully and curl instinctively within the constraints supporting me.

"Don't do that," a faint voice admonishes me from the brink of my consciousness. "You're just making it harder for yourself to breathe."

I huff irately and unfurl my legs with a coarse groan. Then I notice I'm moving without actually physically walking. Either that or the floor's decided to up and walk past my eyes – both entirely possible given my out-of-it state. Pfft… "…What…? …Where – where am I g-going…?"

"The bathroom. You need to clean up."

"…Oh…"

…

…_**END PREVIEW**_

**o.O.o**

**A.N. **_In preparation for my extended leave of absence, I've already written most of the next part of this 'File'. There's more Mai interacting with other characters in File 6 (both parts), but I hope I achieved some sort of balance between character relationships and the case. Right, I'm going away for a while – **see my profile for full details!** – so, everyone have a good Easter and hope to see you with the next instalment soon!_

_**Review review review!**_

_Thanks for reading._

**Daygoner**


	8. File 6: Part 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ghost Hunt, just the first seven volumes that sit on my bookshelf…

**A.N. **_I'm baaack! Woot for the adrenalin rush that comes with updating (doesn't anyone else get those? _O.O_). Apart from coming home from an internet-less vacation to find that a) exams are now less than 4 weeks away; b) Ghost Hunt has hereby ended; and c) reading Ghost Hunt spoilers just makes me want more… well, I'm in a pretty good mood besides! I think I'll have to update more often…_

_**Deepest gratitude to...:**_

_**Nameless**__ – About typing errors… if it weren't for Spellcheck, I would probably be hung, drawn and quartered by grammar and punctuation Nazis by now, lol! Oh, and don't mention it about the dedication. If I could dedicate individual stories to all my devoted readers, I would! Also, I would like to apologise for my crazy absences and seemingly sporadic updating – I'm USELESS at keeping deadlines, so that's probably why I post once in a blue moon then disappear for a couple of months (/the cycle then repeats/)… Sorry for the latest bout of disappearance: I've been on an internet-less vacation (stressed me out like H-E-L-L). I'm really annoyed 'cause I planned to catch up on reading fanfiction, but didn't get the chance… Hm, I'm glad you read the oneshot. In reference to your comment on the characters' relationships… well, some of it's been carried into this chapter. As for your fanfiction – as always, go for it; inspiration's one elusive bugger but once it gets you, it can be the best thing in the world. Luck, hugs and kisses to you!_

_**Annoying Little Twit**__ – It's always good to hear that you liked a certain chapter – that chapter especially, 'cause I thought it was a bit drab /insert grimace here/. Either way, I hope this next part is just as enjoyable (it's… different; I dunno if that's to everyone's tastes… O.o). Sorry for the wait!_

_**Hiro**__ – Heya! Haha, I love keeping people in suspense! What are cliffies and previews there for? Lol. I love Naru, too – who doesn't? Ah, I'm glad to hear that you liked that chapter because – well, at least I thought this – it was a bit boring (but you seemed to like it, so who's complaining?). I DID have a great holiday, thank you very much (only won one game out of five though…sigh)! I think I'd better shut up and let you read on, now. God, I ramble… xox_

_**Rayne**__ – It's a shame they didn't have any topless Naru scenes in the real anime/manga. But then, crazy fangirls would have gone into hysterics if there were, lol. I had a great vacation, thanks; I'm not sure if everyone has a spring break, but if you do, then I hope you enjoyed yours too! Oh, there's a lot more character interaction in this chapter – totally different to the previous chapter's interaction, but there you go. It's nice to be varied /grin/. Thanks for the review – enjoy!!_

_**JustME**__ – You have a twin?! Woah, über cool, man, über cool! I'm gonna write a separate reply to both of you 'cause the last time I addressed my other twin friends collectively, I got my head bitten off (they actually hate each other… brings a whole new meaning to sibling rivalry /gulps/), so yeah… Anyway, you seemed to like the last chapter quite a bit, eh? I'll not hide my surprise at that – I've been accused of it being too boring (and I must say, I sort of agreed… O.O). Meh, if you loved it so much, I have no qualms about getting a rewrite done, then. (Somebody stop me, you're making me too complacent /grin/). Oh, and please do tell me about that 'phone call thing'. Sounds like fun /wink/. Thanks for the review – 'GO NARU X MAI 4EVA'!! (lol)_

_**YeahjustMOI**__ – I find it really – I'm gonna use 'cool' again here because I lack a sufficient amount of adjectives in my vocabulary – cool that I have twins reading the same fanfic! I guess my twin friends hate each other so much that they try as much as possible to act differently from one another /sweatdrop/. I hope I've got this right, but was it you who thought that the previous chapter was the best so far? Well, let me tell you that that's mighty good to hear 'cause even I didn't like it that much… but hey, when it comes to cases, you have to get into the information every-now-and-again, no matter how boring it is. Think you've cracked the mystery yet? Hehe, I hope I'm still keeping it vague… thanks for the collaborated review; happy reading xx_

_**Mei**__ – I'm glad you like it /smile/. So, here's the next chapter for your pure enjoyment. Hope it doesn't disappoint and thank you for your sweet review!! _

_**Riverbird**__ – Your compliments are gonna be the end of me! Aw, someone stick me in a bucket of cold water – I'm blushing! Lol, I'm really quite ecstatic that you like it. Ah, here's the update – a bit more… well, it's different, shall we say, to what's come before it, but I hope it'll be just as enjoyed. I was always one with an out-of-sync humour (you'll see what I mean when you read on…) – have fun with it!! xox_

_**Chelle**__ – You know, I feel like a pupil getting praised by a teacher (wow, what a foreign feeling, lol) – sort of like a little happy glow in the pits of my stomach /grin/. Oh, I have to agree with you – I think everything in the story's getting developed and, ultimately, getting a little better to what I started out with. I'm never really satisfied with what I've written – I'll probably come back to this a few weeks from now and say to myself, 'Why the hell did you even bother releasing that?!' I'm hopeless when it comes to things like this /sigh/. Anyway, thanks for the review (you've just about eased my pedantic side /grin/) and here's the update (sorry for the wait!)… _

_**Anonymous Sneak**__ – /Wheedles/ Was this a quick enough update? …Do I get a cookie/Puppy-dog eyes/ (Lol, before you answer that, I seriously urge you to read the chapter first to decide if it's worth a cookie, fast update or not!) xxx_

_**vla1diva**__ – I think, as a fanfic writer, one of the best praises you can receive from readers is that your work is somewhat of the same sort of material that resembles the original piece… if that makes sense (sorry, I don't really have a good way with words… /grimace/). Perhaps, as an original fiction writer, that's not such a great thing to hear – it's kinda plagiarism, so… – but as a fanfic author, it's a different thing altogether. So thank you very much – your review means a lot to me. I really hope you like the oncoming chapters and that they stay true to the GH plotlines (with the exception of the Naru/Mai-ness, of course /wink/!!)_

_**Hao Lai Lai**__ – It's the common cliché, isn't it – sharing a room with the guy of your dreams… 'cept, when it's with a super narcissist, one begs to differ. Lol, I guess I wouldn't mind if it was Naru, either. And no, I'm not shallow at all, no siree! Hope you're enjoying the story; thanks for the review! xx_

_**Kaede**__ – Me? A future in writing? Phew, that's music to my ears /grins/!! Thank you very much; that has got to be among one of the greatest of praises that I have received – very sweet of you to say so after reading IS. I'm glad you find it interesting and are enjoying the wonders of the Naru/Mai pairing. They really do make a great couple, don't they? Well, I think you'll quite like this chapter since it's got plenty of Naru/Mai interaction… not that I'm giving any hints /wink/. Thanks for your thoughtful review!!! xox_

**o.O.o**

**Ghost Hunt: Inerasable Secrets**

**. File 6 .**

**- PART TWO - **

Monday, 11:07pm

Hara Masako is never one to swear openly, even in the midst of the craziest of times. No, she is more of an 'I will cuss obscenely into my sleeve' person (not that there were a lot of these kinds of people in the world), and cuss obscenely she does.

"Why is all the action going down in Mai's room and not mine?"

She also talks to herself. Again, not a lot of people do this – and when they do, it's usually quite indicative of something. One: they're going a bit loco in the head or two: they're talking to ghosts. Maybe Masako is dabbling in both categories…?

With her ear fastened to the neighbouring wall, she can only hear the occasional shuffling of feet and the creaking of the bed and floorboards. She frowns and presses closer to the plaster as a cold wind seemingly coming from nowhere brushes against her skin wistfully. She shivers once, spine tingling with a feeling akin to… familiarity. The footfalls stop momentarily in the next room. Masako mewls and forgets the wind. What is going on in there?

"Are you eavesdropping on Mai and Shibuya-san?" Masako turns abruptly, mortified, and blushes crimson under Sayuri's sleepy one-eyed stare. The girl appears to have just woken up, but the famous psychic can't really do anything to salvage what pride she has from the situation. She cloaks the lower half of her face behind a dark sleeve and coughs lightly, banishing away the shivers under her skin by pulling her clothing tighter around her. She's not sure, but she believes the room has just gotten colder.

"Not eavesdropping," she murmurs slowly, considering what exactly she should say next, "just listening out to see if I'm needed in there."

Sayuri squints at Masako, still a little dazed by her half-asleep/half-awake state. She sneezes twice in quick succession and sits up. "If you say so," she says, then winks as if they've just shared a deeply coveted secret. "I'm sure they'll call if you're needed."

Masako nods, balling her small hands into minute fists. Her fingertips are cold but her palm is covered in a thin sheet of sweat. "Yes, you are right," she agrees half-heartedly.

Sayuri's mouth twitches and she is about to say something when she suddenly seems to register something. "It's cold," she says, her voice turning as frigid as the atmosphere around them. Then, "Do you hear it?"

Masako flexes her fingers experimentally and the sleeve falls away from her face. She is about to reply that she can hear nothing, save the faint sounds from the neighbouring room. She opens her mouth to speak and that is when she catches it. The soft and insistent rattling noise swishes in between each strand of her hair and wraps around her limbs, calling with the will of a dog yearning to be found by its owner. Masako lifts her head.

"Do you hear it?" Sayuri repeats, a soft wail coloring her words and pulling fearfully at her vocal chords.

"I hear him."

**o.O.o**

Monday, 11:11pm

Naru is awake but not much more prepared for what happens when it does. He's pacing the bed when Mai whines, a low sound – almost inaudible – and he has to stop and listen again just to be sure he's heard correctly. He approaches her side swiftly, already in the process of trying to wake her. She rolls around, a restless animal holed up in a cage.

"Lin!" Naru calls into the camera as he goes. He's not sure how the Chinese man is going to get into the house, but he's sure his assistant will find a way. He was always the man with a plan, so to speak.

Naru waits. After a short while, he begins just like the previous night; shaking Mai, calling her name as loudly as the night will permit, pausing in his actions for short periods of time to see if she'll break out of it by herself. If he notices the sudden drop in temperature in the room, he doesn't give any indication of the fact – if anything, he watches a fervent sweat leech from the tip of Mai's hairline and swears that he can feel his own pores secreting its own sheen of transparent perspiration. She's still breathing, he tells himself; she still has time.

"...Naru."

He hears the rattling later than he should have. The sound is foreign to him, and it takes a while for the head of SPR to comprehend what it is. His head swivels to survey the surrounding walls but he cannot locate the source of the noise, the faint pitter-patter of something like a thousand small beads shaken against wood, taunting his senses with its collectively callous call. He grips Mai's dead arm between his fingers.

She's stopped breathing.

"Naru!"

Naru's head snaps around. Lin is outside, knocking on the pane of glass that serves as a window, rattling the locked latch as he does so. Naru stares harder. His assistant is trying to get into the house. Via the window. Via the _upstairs_ window.

'The man with a plan'?

Naru quickly unlatches the window and slides it open. A rush of warm night air forces its way into the room and pushes him backward, just as something almost silver but unseen escapes into the outside world and beyond. Naru's skin tingles as if a presence has just touched it in a silent farewell. He cocks his head. The rattling has stopped.

"I've been outside for ages," Lin informs his boss, slipping onto the floor gracefully. Naru turns his attention onto his assistant and wonders if it is just his imagination – which is rather limited, considering the kinds of things that he's seen – but is Lin… glowing? His assistant's eyes seem oddly bright as they survey the room and he seems to be coated in some sort of dark aura, everything from the tip of his nose to the heels of his shoes oozing a dangerous vibe.

Naru quickly wipes his expression clean, clearing away all traces of his confusion and befuddled thought. "I can't wake her," the teen tells Lin in a monotone as he approaches, still looking immaculate even after scaling a few trees and a brick wall.

"How long?"

"Less than a minute. She was whining before you showed up."

"Hn."

Lin shakes her, but she doesn't stir. "What can you do?" Naru asks him, knowing that trying to rouse Mai that way just won't work.

"How did you wake her last time?"

Naru shrugs, letting out a sharp sigh and running a hand through his hair. "She just came out of it by herself."

Lin regards the unusually still girl with a contemplative expression before turning to face his boss. "Then there's nothing to be done," he says sagely, a hardness in his voice preventing Naru from objecting. The seventeen-year-old scoffs internally at the tone, but can't hold back the strong feeling of… distaste to the whole _freaking_ situation. He ruffles his hair again. What kind of vocabulary is that?

It's probably something Mai would've said.

(But Naru doesn't think too deeply of this).

"She'll be fine." Lin comes to stand beside his boss and they share an empty yet loaded stare for a moment before returning their gazes to the near-dead girl that rests on the bed. Naru thinks vaguely that he's been to funerals that are more cheerful than this.

"What's happening?" Monk-san crawls into the room, an array of twigs and leaves bursting around him as he plops onto the floor with a stifled 'oof'. His appearance is more convincing of his night-time tree climbing than Lin's; he even has dirt smudges on his cheeks for added effect. "Is Mai alright? Can we wake her?" The former monk stands, not bothering to dust himself down but assessing the current atmosphere that's he's just interrupted. He glances worriedly at Mai then at Naru and Lin.

"You guys can't do anything?"

"…No."

His brow creases and he stares meaningfully at Naru, then at Lin. "Nothing at all?" His tone is derisive, uncharacteristically so. The Chinese man shifts slightly, though his face remains impassive.

"Lin?" Naru's regarding him now, his slow and carefully structured dispassionateness reaching out cautiously to pry at Lin's illusory dark aura. His one visible eye rolls behind a closed eyelid as he blinks, releasing a long-held breath through his nostrils.

Lin drifts on over to the bedside. He moves much like a wraith toward impending death, distractingly deliberate and excruciatingly precise. He shakes Mai one last time and her face contorts as though the action causes her the severest of pains; Lin desists from touching the girl immediately.

Her expression doesn't change.

He glances quickly at his boss, who gives no indication about what he's thinking or what he expects – but the former monk beside him exudes all manner of wants and hopes. Lin burns under both their gazes.

"Come on," Takigawa-san urges him in a harshly desperate whisper, "_Do_ something; _anything_. Work your Chinese magic mojo stuff – you've gotta be able to do _something _with it!"

Lin wonders why this has all fallen to him. Surely the people who care more about Mai should be the one's 'saving' her right now? People like Takigawa-san… and Naru. "Fine," he says resolutely, quietly, and settles himself beside the silent girl on the bed.

He kneels, as if in prayer, then crouches like a tiger in mid-pounce. His actions are so clean-cut, so accurate. With everyone in the room waiting on baited breath, he raises his hand, face immeasurably bland and –

Backhands Mai across the cheek.

Silence.

Then, the young girl's eyes flare open and she gasps for breath; the world starts to move again.

"Abracadabra," Lin says lightly, hopping off the bed and doing a little mock bow. He dodges to one side before Takigawa can crush him as he surges forward to check on Mai. Standing up straight, he takes a second to brush down his slightly rumpled shirt and pants, pausing only when he realises that Naru's still watching him. He levels his boss's gaze.

Naru's eyes glint instantaneously. "That was violent."

"Matsuzaki-san recommended such methods," Lin replies smoothly, none too proud of having to hit a woman – a _girl_, even. But, he tells himself, it had to be done. He buttons up his cuffs.

Naru listens to Mai dry heave loudly before being sucked into a dangerous hug from the former monk. Mai's sobbing – and general oxygen supply – is cut off abruptly. The seventeen-year-old allows himself to sigh. "'Abracadabra'?" he quotes.

Lin feigns concern. "Was that too OTT?" Naru rolls his eyes and shakes his head drearily.

"I think you'd better stick to pulling rabbits out of hats, Mr Magic-Man," he tells his assistant seriously. Lin frowns, though he notices that his boss's lips are pursed in a slight smirk – as though they've just shared a private joke. He lifts an eyebrow.

"But, Naru," he says quietly, words dripping with the deepest tones of sardonicism, "you know that's the only magic trick I cannot do."

**o.O.o**

Monday, 11:22pm

_Ow ow ow ow ow ow. _

_OW!_

Pain. The first thing I become accustomed to is the pain; the sharp sting in my cheek, the barbed feeling that undulates continuously in my chest, gently coiling until it springs up around my throat and trachea, bursting like a sudden flare out of a gun. I bolt upright and cough. Oxygen. Pain. Air. Pain. Life. PAIN. Two pearly tears bleed from beneath my eyelids and my head thrums as though a truck has just backed into it at full speed.

"Mai!"

Something grips me, holding me like a vice. I struggle, but I can't see anything, can't feel anything past the tightness of my lungs and limbs. I wheeze as my breath is forced out of me once more – familiar feelings flood me again; panic, fear, pain.

"Mai!" Monk-san finally releases me, peering into my half-lidded eyes as if he can detect an answer to his calls there. "Can you hear me? Are you ok?"

_Loud and clear_, I think hazily, feeling a gradual sickness stirring in the marrow of my bones until it rattles the calcium of my bones. I clutch my midriff, only faintly aware of my suddenly shaking joints. I cough and the world spins.

My stomach gives the worst sort of lurch and grumble.

Panic.

I slap a hand on my mouth before I hurl its entire contents halfway across the room and throw myself out of bed, stumbling blindly around for the bin. Someone thrusts it into my hands and my dazed eyesight gives me all of two seconds to aim for the opening of the small bucket before promptly squeezing shut as I empty a whole load of undigested food into the hole. The sickly feeling of, well, sick, jumps erratically across all the millions of nerve-endings and synapses in my body, and I heave loudly before chucking up another mouthful of vomit again.

Fear.

The strong taste of stomach acid, undigested food and something salty swirls sloppily around in my mouth; it is only then that I realise that I'm sobbing, retching and wheezing all at the same time, the dribble of unnoticed tears mixing with the already stale flavours of sick and phlegm at the back of my throat. I make a foul attempt at breathing deeply, breaking down in a sticky dry-heave almost instantly.

Pain.

I pitch forward again and the cycle of throwing-up resumes.

The fluttery feeling of hands at my temples has me vaguely roused from my sickly stupor for a hazy moment. There's an inexplicably sharp sensation that skims the top of my head and I hiss loudly, trying to reach up and free myself from my offender. He merely catches hold of my hands in a firm restraint and lays a cold palm over my forehead to calm me.

"Naru…" I moan, as he slowly releases my hands and gathers up the strands of my hair that have fallen across my face. He holds them away from my mouth. "Wha…what are you…?"

"Shh," he hushes me, the sharp edge to his voice that is ever present posing no space for argument. "Just shut up and carry on being sick, will you? Concentrate on getting it all out of your system… and not on the floor."

He pulls my hair gently back from my face and hovers close by as I lean forward to chuck up once more. Or three times more, as my stomach would have it. Soon, however, sobbing prevails over vomiting and I collapse into a crumpled heap beside the bin, feeling utterly wasted and exhausted beyond belief. My throat rasps every time I suck in a breath, behaving as though it's been torched by a lighter then stroked by a splintered bar of wood, respectively.

"Sit up," my boss orders me, giving my hair a short tug to prompt me into an upright position. Naru's strong hands grip my shoulders and yank me forcefully when I struggle to comply. He passes me a tissue to clean up my face, but I have a bit of trouble figuring out the difference between my chin and my forehead.

"Eurgh…" Non-consistent moans and groans are the only sounds that venture past my lips. I make a pathetic attempt to stand alone, but Naru ends up having to grab hold of my shirt and elbow as I inadvertently begin a (un)dignified drop into the carpet. "Woah… damn… I ca-can't even… s-s-stand s-straight…"

Naru's holding my arm tightly enough to leave marks on the skin bared by my T-shirt. He says something, but my head spins for a moment and everything around me loses sharpness in those few seconds. Phew, when did everything become so blurry?

"…Mai…? …Mai…?" I think that's Monk-san's voice, but I can't be sure.

"Hm…?"

I'm vaguely aware of Naru's grip suddenly loosening and then disappearing completely. I teeter on unsteady legs for a couple of dangerous seconds before strong arms wind their way under my knees and around my shoulder blades. And as quick as that, the feeling of instability is grounded against the consistent thump of a calm heartbeat, pulsing powerfully inside a hard cage of bones and muscle. I wheeze mournfully and curl instinctively within the constraints supporting me.

"Don't do that," a faint voice admonishes me from the brink of my consciousness. "You're just making it harder for yourself to breathe."

I huff irately and unfurl my legs with a coarse groan. Then I notice I'm moving without actually physically walking. Either that or the floor's decided to up and walk past my eyes – both entirely possible given my out-of-it state. Pfft… "…What…? …Where – where am I g-going…?"

"The bathroom. You need to clean up."

"…Oh…"

All too soon, I'm propped up against the cold surface of the bathroom sink and a toothbrush somehow finds its way into my hand. I look at it stupidly (_Woah, it's a UFO… Unidentified Fluffy Object…_) andeventually get it into my mouth after stabbing my cheek twice, wincing as I touch upon a strangely sore spot just above my jaw. Ignoring the pining twinges that erupt all over my skull as I move my mouth, I begin the tedious job of ridding my teeth of vomit – probably knocking a tooth or two loose as I scrub away harshly and with a lot less care than usual. Someone runs a cup of water for me to rinse and gargle after I'm done and does so for the next three times that I brush my teeth and wash my face. Feeling distinctly roused by the strong taste of peppermint and the clean scent of soap, I push away from the sink and stand up without assistance. My knees tremble and my faithful aid catches me from behind. The gentle prompt of his firm hands make me realise that I'm too tired to be embarrassed by such a show of weakness, lest I would have blushed like the feeble little schoolgirl that I am. Sickening.

"Do you feel any better?"

"Hm… My th-throat is still really s-sore, but I'll be… ok."

"I'll get you some water. Here, I'll take you back to your room, first."

"…Thanks."

I brace myself against the proffered arm and hobble clumsily back into my room, the comforting weight of an able body supporting me as I go. I feel rather warm, actually, given the givens and all. You'd have thought, after spewing out most of the crap in one's stomach, the general feeling of emptiness would be quite overwhelming – but no, I'm pretty much right as rain.

"Mai… Why's there toothpaste on your nose?"

Well, as 'right as rain' as you can be after a whole load of crazy happenings in one night. "Sh-shut up, Naru."

Lin-san carries on tugging me towards the bed. The rigidness of his arms under my shoulders brings back that unexpected sense of ease to my laboured walking and I lean against him gratefully. All too soon, he deposits me gently onto my bed and leaves me to my own devices as he retracts his arms hurriedly and rushes off somewhere. I'm too slow to thank him – he's already gone before I can get a small 'thanks' in edgeways and a stinted coil of disappointment grows in my stomach. I sniffle bitterly, annoyed with myself.

"You feeling better?" Naru strides slowly toward me, throwing the question at me like it'll bite him. And here I am, asking myself: how could the same line through Lin-san's mouth sound a hundred times better?

"Yeah." I shrug a cough off my chest after answering. Then, something occurs to me and I curse foully for not thinking of it sooner. "How-how's Sayuri doing?"

"She's fine." He leaves it at that and takes a moment to stare at me sternly. "Hara-san's taking care of it."

"You th-think she c-c-can handle it alone?" I ask him hoarsely, pounding my ribs to get the question out. He nods, eyes telling me, 'Of course.' I sigh, a shallow breath leaving my throat through a myriad of congested phlegm and saliva. "If you're sure…" I say, trailing off at the end.

"I'm always sure," Naru tells me self-righteously, supposedly attempting to scourge away any doubt that I may have concerning our client with his award-winning 'I am right and don't you deny it' persona. I 'hmph' as loudly as I can, but end up coughing violently into the duvet. Woah. Head go bang bang, boom boom – ow. Talk about disoriented.

Eventually, my brain stops trying to butcher my skull – the focal point being the area just above my ears. "Gag me," I wheeze sarcastically, unsure of how much I care about the fact that Naru seems to trust Masako's abilities a lot more than he gives her credit for.

"Bad pun," Naru informs me, shaking his head. "I've sent Takigawa-san, if you're _that_ worried about Hara-san going solo," he adds, reading my thoughts in that very eerie way of his. I scrutinise him through a pair of suspicious eyes until I realise that it magnifies the resonant pounding around my temples. Is mind-reading another one of his traits? Bloody hell.

A faint knocking at the door interrupts my internal musing and my attention transfers onto Lin-san, who's just entered the room. Naru says something to me, but I'm not really concentrating on him any more.

"Lin-san–" I begin to thank my co-worker quickly, but he cuts me off. His movements towards me are uncertain, strangely jerky – but a graceful jerkiness, if that's possible. He keeps his eyes trained on mine as he holds something out to me.

"Here." I look down and grasp the object with tentative fingers. He's careful not to let our hands touch.

It's the glass of water he promised.

He turns to leave. "Wait!" I grab his sleeve, tugging him back. He stares and I do my best to crack a smile (ruined by the fact that I have to cough before speaking again). "Thank you."

Lin-san starts, then shifts his eyes to the floor. "Don't spill it," he says, although I've already gone and dribbled some of the water over the side of the clear glass. He lowers his head. "I'm not getting you a fresh one."

Naru's brow creases minutely as he processes what has just been said; I wonder vaguely if he's reading Lin-san in the same way I am trying to. It's as though the Chinese man is warning me. This is not the kind of sentimental thing he does normally, so don't get used to it. I grin a little.

Because a glass of water is just sooo sentimental, right?

My grin extends at this thought and I ignore Naru as he sighs loudly from his spot against the wall. Lin-san glances at his boss for a fraction of a second and seems to decide upon something once catching sight of his boss's expression. I see his face twitch in a rare smirk/smile as frees his sleeve from my fingers. "I'll get started on that research," Naru's senior assistant says to no-one in particular. I look round, but our boss's face is as blank as always.

Perhaps I'm not as good at interpreting people as I think I am?

"He hit you, you know," is the first thing that Naru tells me once Lin-san has left the room. "That sore spot on your cheek? He slapped you there to wake you up."

I brush my fingers against the said area gingerly, wondering why Naru's suddenly decided in such a change in expression and conversation topic. I wince; Ayako slapped me in the exact same spot not so long ago. Jeezum. "Is it b-bruised?" I ask affectedly, hiccupping on the 'b'.

"Even if it is, I can tell you that you won't look any worse than you already do," Naru offers plaintively and I growl hoarsely before flipping him the bird. Waay below the belt, Naru-chan – what kind of a comment was that?

I glare at him in standoff for a while, daring him to speak. He merely spreads his hands in a don't-shoot-me manner and settles down beside me in my bed. I don't shift to allow him room, the stubborn idiot that I am, so he leans partially on my legs as he sits. Perhaps, if I suddenly screamed 'RAPE!!!' someone come along and cart the narcissist off to a secluded place reserved just for perverts…? Probably not. I eye him warily as he shuffles, ruffling the duvet over my knees and raising a course of goosebumps along my skin that contacts the rough material.

_Stop doing that_.

"If th-that's all, Naru, I'll b-be g-getting to sleep now." I tuck my stiff legs beneath my body in a few creaky motions, moaning with the apparent effort needed to do so. Naru's weight slips off my limbs like water off stone, eyes unmoving and somehow leering at me. He alters his positioning as I do, and I have a hot urge to simply boot him off the edge of the bed. Not a good idea: I'd probably end up falling off myself, considering the weakened state that I'm in. I moan again.

"Sleep?" Naru's derisive voice cuts through the blanketing air around us. "Sleep?" he repeats, "But you haven't told me what happened in your dream yet."

I blanch, skin turning the same color and consistency as wet paper. "Is that e-even ne-nece… necessary right now?"

As I stumble over some of my words, Naru's expression softens into something ever-so-slightly mellower. I hack out a cough, eyes watering. His hands quickly grasp hold of mine, steadying the glass of water between my fingers; clear droplets of liquid leak over the edge of our nails and trace the delicate contours of our palms and fingertips. I regard him through blurry eyes. The edge to his gaze is still there, and the challenge in the line of his strong jaw is ever present – but the low and melodious quality to his voice matches the, now, smoothened and relaxed skin of his brow.

"Don't spill it," he echoes Lin-san's sentiment from earlier. "I suggest you drink the rest."

I let out a forced and hollow laugh. It sounds like sand raining on a graveyard of rusted metal. "I won't s-spill any more, if th-that's wha-what you're worried about."

He disentangles his fingers from mine. "That's not what I meant," Naru tells me, looking at his wet hands speculatively. He wipes them on his thighs without a second thought.

"You will need to drink the rest of your water because in a minute you're going to tell me everything that happened in the course of your dream."

**o.O.o**

_**PREVIEW…**_

_**. File 7 .**_

…

…_What are you doing…?_

My eyes roll upward to watch as he reaches out a hand and lightly brushes it against my hair, moving the strands out of my line of sight. I am made strangely aware that my laboured breathing scratches the air around my open mouth and that every sharp intake of oxygen has my throat burning, burning, _burning_, so heated that I can't tell the difference between the hotness at my neck and the hotness at my cheeks. Naru's fingers graze delicately against my forehead and I close my eyes to simply… absorb. Naru exudes a feeling that expels a lifetime of difference to the feeling I have around, say, Lin-san. I think back to my time with him earlier tonight. Gone is the sense of steadiness and stability, the syncopated rhythms of a heartbeat and the strength of a grounded will. Gone is the security of a firm arm, replaced by the whisper-soft flutterings of fingertips on sensitive skin. The feeling seems refreshing, raw… unfelt. It's unexpected. It's different. It's nonsensical.

Absorption doesn't seem to be enough.

"Naru…?" I hiccup at the worst possible time and the tips of his index and middle fingers rake my scalp lightly. His eyes flash at the unexpected increase of skin contact.

"Look at this." He removes his hand from my head and shows me something. I blink hurriedly then frown.

"What the heck is that?"

…

…_**END PREVIEW**_

**o.O.o**

**A.N.** _Sooo… this chapter marks the moving on of the case! Woot! All the nitty-gritty can begin now – and I can't wait. It's about time the mystery unfolds, right?_

_**Reviews are like the frothy tops to my coffees. Mmm, yum!**_

_(Btw, that means: 'Please review'!) _

_Thanks for reading._

**Daygoner**


	9. File 7

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ghost Hunt, just the first seven volumes that sit on my bookshelf…

**A.N. **_Guess who's back, back again… Daygoner's back, tell a friend XD_

_If you've read my profile, you'll know that I've been doing exams (still haven't finished them – I know it's been a helluva long time!) so that's my main reason for not updating in forever. Sorry! _

_**Hugs and kisses to...:**_

_**YeahjustMOI/justME**__ – I love the way you wrote me a corroborated review. And even though I don't have a twin, I know how it feels to have one of those stupid phone-call thingies – this person calls me up and I said 'It's me' and she guessed I was my mother, then my sister, then my grandmother (I mean, come on…), until I finally told her who I was, much to my chagrin. Anywhoo… if YOU'RE lazy, then what does that make me /grimace?! Here's the latest chapter; enjoy, and thanks for waiting for it for so long!!_

_**Hiro**__ – Lol, sorry but I think you'll have to welcome me back again after my stupid hiatus. As for the chapter that comes with my reinstatement: well, you'll learn a bit more about the case here, just to get you thinking, and there's also a bit of Naru/Mai thrown in for good measure. Sound good? Thanks for keeping with this story, hope it still pushes all the right buttons for ya!_

_**Kaede**__ – Haha, you picked up on the jealousy! I personally think Lin-san's a bit too old for Mai and Naru'd probably never be jealous of their relationship, but… pfft, so long as it works out with you guys, I ain't complainin'. Hope you like this chapter, sorry to keep you waiting – I know, I'm such a lazy poo. Oh, and thanks for the compliment, too – you reviewers are the best /grin!!_

_**Chelle**__ – Naru WAS quite nice, wasn't he? There's a bit more of a continuation of the Naru/Mai stuff in this chapter, as well as more of an explanation (of sorts) about the past and about the case. Am I being vague? I'll leave that up to you – don't want to give too much away!! BTW, I hope you didn't feel offended for that teacher comment thing; I only meant that I'd wished the teachers at my school would grade me as well as you did!! Haha, if only! Lol, thanks a lot for the review and sorry for making you wait. Enjoy!!!_

_**Annoying Little Twit**__ – Yeah, I made Lin slap her. OOC, I know. Sorry /grimace/!! I'll try and make it a bit less… harsh next time, and the characters a bit more IC. Glad you liked the chapter nonetheless. Thanks for waiting all this time for a chapter, please do enjoy!_

_**vla1diva**__ – I guess I kinda mucked up with the non-updating thing… /sheepish grin/ SORRY!! Well, I come bringing tidings of a new chapter! Yayness!! Please take it as a token of my apology – hope you like!_

_**Nameless**__ – Er, you're gonna have to welcome me back again, lol. Sorry about leaving you again, but exams called… /frowns/. Anyway, no probs for acknowledging you – I love responding to your reviews (the ego boost is MOST invigorating /grin/) and I also love torturing people with cliffies. Did I leave another cliffy at the end of this…? Yeah, I did. Hehe, I left a little preview too, so don't be too disheartened!! As always, hugs to you for reviewing and hope you enjoy the new chapter!_

_**Rayne**__ – Again, I've hopelessly failed with the whole 'update soon' thing. Sorry about that – the only thing I can offer in apology is this chapter. And my love for your review – thanks!! I've also included some more Naru/Mai to keep you happy – and some stuff about the case, if you're interested… Enjoy!!_

_**Sakura**__ – Oh, God, I'm so sorry for not updating in so long. Please don't say I've disappointed you!! Please accept this new chapter as a way of apology – I'll try my best to update sooner once my exams are over… Sorry! Glad you're enjoying the story so much and thank you very much for your review /grins/._

_**Mei**__ – Ah, another 'update soon'er that I have to send my apologies to: SORRY for not updating in so long. I know, I know, I'm a seriously lazy bum that needs to get writing more often /sighs/. Sorry. It's great that you're hooked because now we're pretty much fully into unravelling the case and it's all coming together… or now, depending on how vague I'm keeping it /winks/. Hope the chapter is to your liking and thanks for your review!!_

_**NikoruxChan**__ – So, you watch the animes, huh? Cool, I'm glad you think it's in keeping with the original storylines and such – and phew, you read it all in one night? I didn't think anyone could take so much of my writing at once! Kudos to you!! Thanks for commending the characterisations – I'm such a Nazi when it comes to ICness and OOCness, so your comment went a really long way /grins/. Well, what can I say: Naru with a towel and nothing else makes me squeal like there's no tomorrow. And – jeezum, you complimented me so much in your review /winks/ - thanks for telling me about my writing style; it's rare for me to write in the first person in present tense and I keep making mistakes with grammar and stuff. So, yeah, sorry for keeping you waiting so long for the next chapter, but here it is and I sincerely hope you enjoy it as much as you did the others!! Welcome to the fold, NikoruxChan!_

**o.O.o**

**Ghost Hunt: Inerasable Secrets**

**. File 7 .**

****

"_You will need to drink the rest of your water because in a minute you're going to tell me everything that happened in the course of your dream." _

**o.O.o**

Monday, 11:05pm

I'm sitting in a car. The seat rumbles comfortably under me and the soft smell of worn leather curls around the cutting breeze that blows in through the turned-down windows, warming it and pushing it through my senses. The feeling of numbness disappears faster than water circling down the drain, taking with it the almost familiar darkness that always seems to percolate into my dreams. I breathe a sigh of relief. Yes, this is much better.

"I'm glad you're here."

The young boy holds out a hand to me and I inadvertently reach out and touch him. Seated next to me, the around-my-age-but-maybe-younger boy shines in no way that any human can – and as much as my touch is meant to assure me that he's really there, he takes it as more of a confirmation that _I'm_ here. He smiles as our fingertips brush, but I can only feel a strange coldness from where our skin meets. I glance at his face. The smile is forced.

"Me too." Not very eloquent, but it's all that I can manage at the moment. First, I'm standing on the road with the man of my dreams – literally – and then I'm sitting in a car with an honest to God ghost. Story of my life. "What am I doing here? And where is 'here', exactly?"

The boy's blond hair seems so pale against the blackness of the leather surrounding us. "I'm glad you're here," he repeats, a wistful quality to his tone. I wait for him to elaborate, but he doesn't. Ok, so ghosts have selective hearing. No wonder Naru likes to work with them – only people who can fully ignore him can probably stand him (gold star to Lin-san!). 'People' being the loose term for 'spirits'… incidentally, do the dead even get bored?

We drive over a ridge in the road. Sayuri mentioned the 'car dream', didn't she? Well, kudos to my over-active subconscious for conjuring this all up. "Where are we going?" I try again, cutting my babbling thoughts off before they accumulate and choke the flow of blood cells to my brain. 'Cause heaven knows I have precious few of those as it is.

"This was meant to be my vacation." The boy grins grimly. "But I never made it."

"Oh." Charming. My mind surreptitiously begins the menial task of spotting out potential health threats; baby seat strapped to the other unoccupied back seat, rattle on the floor, box of tissues by my feet, empty driver's seat, magazines in the–

"Oh, my God, who's driving the car?!"

The boy shrugs and faces away from me. I'm hyperventilating, even though the rational part of me keeps telling me that this is just a dream and I have nothing to worry about. _Calm down_. I gulp and grip the edge of the tight black seats. The wind blows stronger, now, no longer a breeze – and the smell of the leather is a strong barb that licks the back of my throat with every breath I suck in. There is no-one driving the car.

"What's happening?"

"We'll be there soon."

"Well, where the hell's 'there'?" Like, Destination: Death? What kind of crappy vacation would that be?

He gives me a really funny look. His creased forehead gives him an innocent sheen, like that of a child who's being questioned on something that they see as obvious, but adults just can't.

"Where are we going?" I ask for the umpteenth time, not settling for the 'We're just gonna pop in on my place of death, whoopee' response. Call me a dull living person, but dying is just not my cup of tea, ya know?

"You really don't know?"

"No, I don't."

The boy stares at me, an oddly pained expression marring his light features. "That's ok. I never thought I'd become a… secret. But that's ok."

Well, now that that's cleared up… "Who are you?"

The spirit smiles again, and this time, the brightness reaches his eyes. "I'm–"

He is cut off as the car veers sharply to the left. My heart is thrust against my chest and panic curls its splintery fingers around it and squeezes bitingly. I throw out an arm to stop myself from falling out of the open window and catch the front seat before everything starts to tip.

"What's happening?" I shout over the roar of my adrenalin. "What's going on?"

"Someone's waking you," the spirit replies, strangely matter-of-fact in his answer. It's the first time a ghost contacting me in a dream has shown awareness of the waking-world and I'm succinctly surprised for a suspended moment. Then he drops on top of me as the car hits some unseen barrier and tilts over completely. He's cold, the antithesis of my panic and the anchoring of my thoughts.

"Listen to me," he says, voice tight with renewed urgency, "this is how I died."

"…Ok…?"

We're falling faster, picking up speed as we begin our descent. There is no sound, no air whipping in through the open windows, no world blurring outside the confines of the vehicle. We're suspended in a dream of the past and the abyss beckons us like the jaws of a hell-creature in wait of a meal.

My breath catches. The boy turns to me.

"This is how it happened," he says.

We hit the surface of a body of water. The rattle shakes inconsistently and the baby seat rocks solidly against the leather. It takes a few seconds for me to realise that we've plummeted that extra few feet and collided with the windshield. Cracks dance across the glass like spider's webs chasing bloody snowflakes, my blood mixing with the water that leaks through the fragmented pieces. I touch my head, feel the sticky warmth of a concussion-worthy head wound. My stomach tightens instantaneously at the thought.

The car is submerging. The boy is still beside me, watching calmly as though I'm part of some TV show that he's been following recently. We tread water as the murky fluid chugs over our legs, torsos and arms, slowly sucking us into the deep. I cough up something mucusy and foul before the waves finally force me under. My final breath is thick and full of bogies. Definitely the dignified way to die.

_Woah. _The spirit tugs on my arm and pulls himself closer until his mouth is nestled near the crook of my neck. "It's not a secret, anymore," he whispers against my skin. His words graze the shell of my outer ear in an intimate way that no human can endeavour to replicate – chilling but warm. "_I'm_ not a secret, anymore."

I pull away from him, twisting in the water, thousands of unasked questions escaping with every bubble that surges past my lips. Obviously humans can't speak underwater, even in dreams. Dammit.

"Remember me," the boy tells me.

He reaches over and pinches my nose, clamping a hand over my mouth simultaneously. His sad smile is the last image that I catch onto before a gag and choke beats me into suffocation.

**o.O.o**

Monday, 12:17am

"…And that was what happened."

I take a deep and haggard breath. The retelling wasn't painful per se, but it was long and taxing for my poor little vocal chords. Naru is silent – shock horror – but there's a slight sheen of excitement to his eyes, like he's finally found the last piece to a puzzle that he's been working on for ages. I cough loudly and lay a delicate hand on my throat.

"You ok?" Naru asks, though there's not much feeling behind his words.

"Yeah," I say. "Penny for your thoughts?"

His thoughtful expression melts into a somewhat wolfish grin. "I'm not that cheap," he declares and I splutter indignantly. "I will not share what I am thinking for the moment. I'll need to do some more research before I'm sure."

Something tells me that I must be getting used to his secretive tendencies because I don't complain or press him for any more details. Instead, I settle for a blasé remark that doesn't really push him or make me seem at all bothered. Which I'm not. At all. "Thanks a lot, Naru. You force me to tell you all about my dream and you don't even want to let me in on your little idea?" I make to shake my head, but it amplifies the feel of constant brain-pounding that's been plaguing me for the past two nights and I stop. "The pain I go through for you and this is how you repay me…" I lay a hand on my heart and try my best to put on a woeful face, which isn't exactly difficult considering my current situation.

"Oh," Naru says mildly in response, "do you want some more water? You know, seeing as you look so pathetic and all."

_So nice of him to notice. _"You're offering to get me water?" I rasp suspiciously, eyeing him with vague distrust. Since when does Mr Super Narcissist himself stoop so low as to perform the menial tasks of his assistants?

Naru shrugs. "No, I'd get Lin to do it," he says casually, mouth twitching at the haughty huff he gets in reply. "But you don't mind Lin doing things for you, do you?" he asks, a touch of something or the other in the undercurrents of his tone.

I'm careful to cough twice in his direction before summoning enough energy to say pointedly, "Well, it's not as if you'd care enough to do things for me."

"Maybe if you stopped getting yourself into so much trouble, no-one would have to go out of their way to help you."

"Hey, I didn't ask to be a psychic or have latent sensitivity or whatever," I snap, annoyed. "It's not my fault I can't control what happens in my dreams."

"True, but haven't you noticed that in every case we've worked on, you've suffered one mishap or another?" His mouth twitches again. "Did you smash a mirror or something as a child? Seven years' bad luck…"

"I did not smash a mirror," I retort, voice squealing as I strain my throat. "So what if bad luck follows me around? They're just accidents, that's all."

Naru pauses to rub his chin thoughtfully. "Either you're naturally clumsy – which is very probable – or bad luck does indeed follow you around, as you said. Maybe I should get Lin and Takigawa-san to ward off the evil bad luck particles around you – have them perform some ritual to cleanse your aura and all that."

I suddenly have a terrible mental vision of Lin-san and Monk-san dancing around me in ceremonial robes and chanting stuff, real rain-dance, praise-the-totem-pole style. I shudder and shake my head firmly. Ouch. Bad images, bad images. "Er, I think I'll pass on that offer," I say wearily.

"Fair enough," Naru says, tossing his hair back offhandedly, "Just don't expect anyone to save you the next time you fall or do something equally stupid on a case."

"Funny you should say that," I answer back bitingly without thinking, "because aren't you the one who's always there to help me when I 'fall or do something equally stupid' when we're on a case?" The words are meant to act as some sort of barb, but all they do is support everything that he's said in the past few minutes. Yes, people always have to help me because I drop down wells and get chased by phantoms and monsters – but isn't that just one of the job's hazards? No, none of the other team members have fallen into as many sticky situations as I have. I attract danger like honey attracts flies. But then… Naru's always there for me. Whether in person, or in my dreams – he is always there.

"I am, aren't I?" He's looking at me frankly and I get the distinct impression that he's assessing me for something, for something in my reaction. I cough and turn my head away from him, tensing when his hand catches and tugs my jaw back round to face him.

…_What are you doing…?_

My eyes roll upward to watch as he reaches out another hand and lightly brushes it against my hair, moving the strands out of my line of sight. I am made strangely aware that my laboured breathing scratches the air around my open mouth and that every sharp intake of oxygen has my throat burning, burning, _burning_, so heated that I can't tell the difference between the hotness at my neck and the hotness at my cheeks. Naru's fingers graze delicately against my forehead and I close my eyes to simply… absorb. It's strange how Naru exudes a feeling that expels a lifetime of difference to the feeling I have around, say, Lin-san. I think back to my time with him earlier tonight. Gone is the sense of steadiness and stability, the syncopated rhythms of a heartbeat and the strength of a grounded will. Gone is the security of a firm arm, replaced by the whisper-soft flutterings of fingertips on sensitive skin. The feeling seems refreshing, raw… unfelt. It's unexpected. It's different. It's nonsensical.

Absorption doesn't seem to be enough.

"Naru…?" I hiccup at the worst possible time and the tips of his index and middle fingers rake my scalp lightly. His eyes flash at the unexpected increase of skin contact.

"Look at this." He removes his hand from my head and shows me something. I blink hurriedly then frown.

"What the heck is that?"

He laughs at me then, the sound breaking through the mounted layers of tension in the room. "It's glass, idiot," he says, though not too unkindly. Emphasis on the 'too'.

"Glass?" He nods, reaches out to extract more of the glinting fragments from my hair and displays them all against the pale flesh of his palm. I notice that there's dried blood on some of them and immediately rub around my skull to find the wound that might have produced such a macabre selection of broken glass pieces.

"There's no wound," I murmur faintly, brushing back my hair wondrously. "I'm not bleeding anywhere."

Naru pushes the fragments around on his palm and says, "They're obviously from the car crash. You made impact with the windshield with the front of your head, yes?"

"Yeah, but how could glass from my dream transfer to here, in real life? Nothing like this has ever happened before…"

Naru shakes his head, disagreeing with me. "Remember when Hara-san was trapped by Urado in that secret room?" he asks, tilting his head speculatively. "You gave her your key, right? And you gave it to her through your dreams; why should it be so strange that a spirit can give you something in the same way?"

As usual, he's right – when has he not been? – and I sigh. "Well, I gave Masako a lucky key," I grumble lightly, "and what does my ghost give me? A bump on the head and a few bits of broken glass, not to mention a free round of suffocation on top it all off. Great."

"Well, he's dead," Naru states bluntly. "What did you expect? A little piece of his coffin? One of his rotted teeth to remember him by?"

I grimace distastefully. "When you put it that way, I guess I prefer the bloody glass," I admit. "What does it mean, though? As I said, it's never really happened before."

"It probably shows that the spirit's making a lot more of a stronger connection with you," Naru offers. "Though, whether that's a good thing…" He stares at me for an extended moment then makes a satisfied sound and gets off the bed.

"I'm going to find Lin," he announces, straightening his pyjamas. He's still holding onto the pieces of glass and I reign myself in before I tell him to be careful to not cut himself. He glances my way once more before he goes. "You sure you don't want that water?" he asks, his voice more mellifluous this time.

"No," I assure him slowly and he nods.

"Your loss," he says, before walking out and leaving me to bask in the early morning silence, with nothing but my elusive thoughts to keep me company.

**o.O.o**

Monday, 9:26am

"Morning's should be made illegal," Monk-san mumbles through his cup of tea, the dark circles under his eyes seeming more pronounced against his pallid skin. He looks and acts as crappy as I do, though why becomes quite apparent when I tax him mercilessly about what happened with Masako and Sayuri last night.

"She had some sort of vision," he reports to me drowsily as Naru interrogates the very girl next door at the same time. "I couldn't really get anything solid out of the girl until she started channelling some the spirit's thoughts and stuff…" He pauses to take a long draught of tea. "It was a bit boring – like 'Boo hoo, I'm dead,' that kinda stuff. So, I thought he was one of those spirits that couldn't get over the fact that they were killed. Anyway, I tried to get him – was it a him? – yeah, so I tried to get him to tell me who he was, but he kept banging on about a 'her' and to 'save her'. I thought he was talking about you, but you were already awake by then, so it couldn't be you."

I get up and pour Monk-san some more tea. The ghost didn't seem to be that upset about dying, I think to myself silently. He was more concerned about being forgotten… "You said the ghost was upset about dying," I reiterated thoughtfully and Monk-san nodded his assent. "What do you usually do with ghosts that can't get over their deaths?"

"I could do it the nasty way and tell them straight out to 'Get over it!' or do it the nice way and send them off to spirit therapy." Monk-san makes a face at me and sits back in his seat with a sigh. "Look, I'm no spirit-psyche expert. I just exorcise the damn things before they cause any more harm to humans."

I set a fresh cup of tea down in front of him. "Well, I have yet to see you perform a successful exorcism," I bait him lightly. He narrows his eyes at me and gulps down more tea.

"So," he says, steering the conversation away from failed exorcisms and such, "what do you think about the 'secrets' and stuff, eh? It all sounds a bit dodgy to me…"

I shrugged, lowering my eyes to my hands clasped on the table. "I'll talk to Sayuri once Naru's finished speaking to her and Masako," I say decisively. "Maybe there's something she's glossed over in the details of her history, something she forget to tell us which could help ease the case along."

"Maybe," Monk-san agrees, though without much conviction. He pushes his cup of tea away and leans across the table towards me, reaching out a finger to prod my nose. He means for the gesture to be affectionate, but there's a hardness in his eyes that I can't really see past and it makes me slightly nervous. "Now that we know that the ghost may have a little issue with being dead and all, I want you to be extra careful around him in your dreams, ok? As far as I'm concerned, the dead dude needs to be ghost-busted as soon as possible – but until we get rid of the little critter, you need to take extra care of yourself. Are we clear?"

I crack a wobbly smile at the former monk, who's wagging his index finger at me warningly. "And here I thought you were just another hysterical worrier," I say warmly. "You're usually the one who kicks up a fuss in situations like these; what's brought on the change?"

Monk-san snorts and taps me on the nose again. "I'm too tired to be hysterical," he sniffs, sounding a bit miffed. "Plus, I'm trying my hand at being serious – like Naru." He furrows his brow and pouts, pretending glare at me. "How does this look?"

"Like… a demented fish."

"Hey!"

We laugh and joke for the next hour or so. At the back of my mind, I keep pondering about the case and the feeling that I've abandoned it nags me all afternoon. It's not until Ayako and John get to the house, late that afternoon, that everyone focuses their energy on one goal – solving the case. Only, Naru and Lin-san are out 'researching', so it feels as though a rather integral chunk of our team's missing.

I pick up my clipboard and pencil. Temperature readings are calling out to be taken and I allow myself to be towed to the nearest room by a grumpy Monk-san, as Masako and Ayako head off elsewhere. John tags along with us.

"So," the Australian says brightly, his fair hair and white smile shining a beacon through the dim light of the afternoon, "what have I missed?"

Monk-san and I share a dark glower before grumbling out an explanation of our current situation in varying degrees of non-enthusiasm.

**o.O.o**

Monday, 3:53pm

The first crazy occurrence of the day (not counting my dream, of course) happens around four o'clock and when it does, I'm in the middle of talking to Sayuri about her family history. It's not at all very interesting – no funny deaths, no vengeful relatives, no pets – and just when I decide that it's not worth it to carry on pursuing the subject, a picture frame comes plopping off the edge of the bookcase and collides with the floor below. It bounces once off the wood and lands a few metres shy of where we're sitting. In the beat of silence that follows, I slowly curl my fingers into my palm and dig my nails into my skin. My fingertips are uncomfortably cool.

"That's the third time this week," Sayuri mutters darkly, dislodging herself from her seat and padding over to pick up the frame. "It's always the same one…"

I throw out an arm to stop her before she goes any further. Her words trouble me, and I think it's not a matter of coincidence that makes the same photo fall over three times in one week. "Maybe I should check it out first," I offer, already striding forward to inspect the potential note from beyond.

"It's a picture of you and Michiko," I declare after prodding it suspiciously with the tip of my finger. It's warm, like it's been lying in direct sunlight for too long – impossible since the day is about as gray as cigarette ash. I pick it up, wincing when I see that the glass has completely smashed over the photo, wrecking the pretty scene that it depicts.

"It's broken," I say unnecessarily, handing the frame to Sayuri, who sighs and runs her finger over the glass. I start to tell her to stop, but she's already gasping in pain, a little cut running a thin line of blood across the surface of her skin. "Ow."

"Here." I hand her some tissue and she wraps it around her finger.

"Sorry," she apologises, "I didn't think about what I was doing… God, I'm being so stupid."

"It's fine," I assure her. "Are you ok? Do you need me to fetch your first aid kit?"

"No, it's ok – I…" She trails off forlornly as Michiko lets off a wail from her room. "Ah, Mai-chan, excuse me…"

She brushes past me, pushing the broken frame into my hands and rushing down the hall. I make to follow but something about the object between my palms makes me stop. I raise the bloodied picture to my face and gaze long and hard at the photo. Nothing strikes me as odd about the happy pose that the camera has captured beautifully in the heat of a bright summer's day – there's a smiling Sayuri, cradling a new-born Michiko in front of the very house that I'm standing in right now – nothing's out of the ordinary or of cause for concern in the original photo… I squint and hold the frame away from me.

There's one crack in the glass that covers the picture, making it seem as though the actual photo itself is broken. More than that, though, is the fact that the fracture is centred right at the top of Sayuri's pale forehead, spreading fragmented lines of discord throughout the length of the frame. Her blood dribbles lethargically along the cracks, crimson rivers gurgling from the peak of a crack skirting across Michiko's whole body to form a network of veins that crisscross over the dissected surface of the ruined picture.

"_Save her._"

The voice echoes in my head as I drop the frame. Then, Sayuri's clear voice shouts loud and urgent over the din of the ringing in my ears.

"Mai!"

**o.O.o**

_**PREVIEW…**_

****

_**. File 8 .**_

"Godammit, John! Why don't you just hit them with your goddamn Jesus Stick?!" Monk-san swipes the air in front of him with the tennis racquet, which, by now, is broken beyond repair. John winces at the former monk's choice of language and lands another blow at the onslaught of glassy objects with his bat, aka the 'Jesus Stick'. Splintery shards explode in all different directions like a glittery transparent bloom of fireworks.

"Takigawa-san," he gasps as he ducks an additional drinking glass comes whirling his way, "I would prefer it if you didn't use the Lord's name in vain…"

Monk-san swats away a recipe book that's making a beeline for where the sun don't shine. "What, I can't say 'Jesus Stick'?! Why's that rude?"

Ayako suddenly backs up against him, fending off a violent array of chopsticks. "You idiot," she says heavily, pausing just long enough to smack him on the upside of the head, "For starters, it was Moses who had the stick, not Jesus. And second, don't say 'godammit' or 'goddamn' in front of a priest!"

"…Hey, wasn't Moses the one with the ark and the animals?"

"That was Noah!"

Monk-san rubs his chin thoughtfully. "That's not what it says in _my_ Bible…"

Ayako dispatches a tea cup with a huff. "You're a monk…!"

"So? Jesus and those lot were all very interesting people – I'm sure Buddha would've been great buddies with them." Monk-san turns to John and throws him the tennis racquet. "Right," he grunts with a smirk, "gimme the goddamn Moses Stick already! I wanna work me some miracles!"

…_**END PREVIEW**_

**o.O.o**

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to any 'Jesus Sticks' – they belong to dear Mr Eco in LOST, and nor do I own any 'Moses Sticks'. They belong to the said dude in the Bible… and, coincidentally, I don't own anyone or anything out of the Bible. If any of the names were wrong, please do correct me – I haven't attended a Sunday school session ever since they didn't let me play Jesus in the church play. So what if I'm a girl/Grumbles angrily/…

**A.N.** _…And we are now one more step closer to getting to the root of all this hoo-ha! I'll put a tentative estimate of no more than 5 more chapters until the end of the case. Maybe 6, if I feel like babbling (which I do quite often… /grin/)._

_**Reviews are like getting A stars in my exams. Now, if I had as many A stars as I did reviews...**_

_Thanks for reading._

**Daygoner**


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